Aftermaths of the Gryffen
by kristhegreat
Summary: Her ship is gone. Her crew is either dead or crestfallen. And on top of it all, Kris also has Jack Sparrow to worry about.
1. Port royal

(Note from author: I do not own Jack or pirates of the Caribbean, but I do own Kris Kayte and Mia. The Gryffen is Kris's ship. Enjoy!)

Kris Kayte stood staring at the town in front of her. "Port Royal..." she had said under her breath. 

It looked to be the most boring place on earth, and she would quickly find out that it was. All the pubs were the same, every drunken sailor was the same, and every strange look she managed to get due to her appearance was the same.

 _It's not your fault _she told herself for the thousandth time as she sat down at a table in the hazy pub. It`s ridiculous to go around looking like an oversized pastry. Let the men parade around in corsets and petticoats and who knows what else for all she cared. 

 She took a sip of her rum and sat back in her chair, brooding. Her ship, the gryffen, was gone. Her crew was either dead or crestfallen. She hadn't been on open water in weeks. And there hadn`t even been as much as a whiff of treasure around this bloody little place. 

  But coincidentally, there was. As luck would have it, though it didn`t seem much like luck, an extremely drunk man came and sat across from Kris. 

 "I suggest you savour this moment, _sir, _because that's as close as you're getting."  She said before getting up and moving to another table.

 She could just hear the conversation that was taking place at the table behind her. Well, she could hear the important parts anyway. The epic events of how one of the men had come into contact with his precious hat didn`t interest her. It was what came after that did.

 "I'm sorry to interrupt your, err, story Billy, but I don't have much time. What was it you wanted to see me about?" one of the men asked.

 "Uhh………" the other man said drunkenly. "Wait a sec…… let me think……. Oh, right. The map. As you know, I'm getting quite old. I'm not sure I can handle going out on the waters again. But I know you'll be happy to make use of this…"

 "What is it? The other man asked.

"A map. Didn't I just tell you that? Supposed to lead to treasure. If you want it…."

"I'll take it. I hope to see you again."

"I'm sure you will."

And then she heard them both get up to leave. _Treasure._ Her eyes glinted greedily at the mere thought of it. She stood up and, draining her drink, silently followed them out the door.

 She stayed in the shadows, and occasionally treaded on people's roofs, but she knew she didn't need to. They were both so drunk they probably wouldn't notice if she went up and walked beside them. 

 When they finally turned separate ways, Kris paused a moment before deciding to follow the obviously younger man, figuring he was the one with the map. He turned and walked onto a dock, footsteps clunking on the worn wooden planks. He stopped a moment, looked around (but didn't see her) before jumping onto a strip of sand below.

 Could he have heard her? _Her_? THE Kris Kayte? Surely not. But, just to be safe, she silently drew her sword from it's holster before hopping down in front of him.

 Before the pirate could react, Kris whipped his sword away from him and flung it over her shoulder, before pressing her own dangerously against his neck. She smiled at the surprised look on his face.

 "Wha…." He started, confused. 

 "Give me the map."

 "Huh?"

 "The map!" she said angrily, pressing the sword harder against his neck, as he gingerly pulled it out of his pocket. "Give it to me!"

"Don't need to get pushy."

"Just give me the map."

 "May I ask who I`m giving this to?"  He said carefully, holding the map in his hand.

She paused for a moment, thinking, before she decided to answer. "Kris Kayte. Also known as Captain, the one who is going to be killing you if you don`t hurry up and hand over that map, and"

 "Captain Shorty." The pirate finished for her.

 "So you have heard of me."

 "But…but you`r a…."

"Why thank you ever so much for noticing." She had long ago given up on pretending to be a boy. Her long brownish reddish hair hung down her back, and she didn't bother to hide her face anymore. 

 "Now if you'll excuse me…" she said, grabbing the map and starting to walk away. "Pleasure doing business with you, uh….."

 "Jack."

 "well, Jack, it`s been a pleasure. Ta ta." She said, hoisting herself back up onto the dock. 

 He stood there looking dumbfounded for a moment. "Wait!" 

 Kris stopped. "What now?"

"If you really are who you say you are, won`t yer be needin a ship? The military ships are guarded heavier than the queen herself, and, if you mind my saying, there's not many other options, Love."

 "Other than…" she said impatiently.

"Me."

"What?!"

"My ship. Fastest one you could find."

"And what`s the catch?" she asked, narrowing her eyes and turning around to look at him. It wasn't like a pirate to be that generous, tipsy or not.

"I'm coming with you. I get half the share. I remain captain. You and your crew will be my crew."

He climbed back up onto the dock and looked at her, waiting for an answer. She stared back, before turning around and walking off the dock and back onto the street. 

"Where're you going?"

"To inform my crew." She said shortly, before turning into a shabby-looking inn. She turned and walked past an abandoned bar and up a set of stairs. She led him into a large room filled with what was left of her crew. She then grudgingly explained to Amara, Bill, Brett, Zee and Jacob what would be happening. The next day they set sail, and that was that.

  *                                             *                                      *                                      *

Or at least that's what Kris could remember as she sat at the virtually spotless window, staring out at the ocean. It had been so long since that day, not to mention since the last time she had been on the sea. How dare he leave her here? How dare he take off without her? How dare he-

 "Kris!!" a voice came from downstairs. Her uncle. "KRIS!!"

 "What?!" she screamed back down at him.

"Jus' chekin' to see if yer there." 

She rolled her eyes and impatiently tapped her fingers against the windowsill. Why was everything here so clean? Hardly a speck of dirt anywhere. It was downright unnatural. Not at all like her ship was….. Well, okay, not her ship. But that was beside the matter. She sighed and returned to staring out at the sea…

 *                                           *                                          *                                        *              

  Jack had pretty much liked her from the start. Ever since she had testily raised her eyebrow when she found out he was indeed Jack Sparrow. She had been genuinely surprised. That was pretty much the biggest sign of emotion he had seen from her so far.

 Of course, she was completely oblivious to the fact he could have had an inkling of affection for her. She had gotten the impression that he hit on every female to walk by.  Well, he kind of did, but that was beside the point. 

 The first time he had tried to kiss her, she hit him. And the second and third time, too. And not pansy little slaps, either. It wasn't that she didn`t like him, no, but she had principals to maintain. 

 Eventually, after getting hit a third time by Kris, Jack had sighed and said that he wouldn`t kiss her again.

 "Good." Kris had replied, crossing her arms stubbornly. She had been standing at the stern of the ship, looking out at the wake trailing the ship and thinking. He had just come up and kissed her. It caught her by surprise. She hated being caught by surprise. 

 He didn`t seem phased by her response. "But one little kiss, Kris. That's all I need. Then I'll know!" he had called after her as she walked away. Kris just rolled her eyes and turned into the cabin she shared with the two other females on the ship. He may have some charm to most women, but when you've heard all the lines, you've really heard them all. 

 She flopped down on her claimed bed and stared at the ceiling.

 "Want an apple?" Amara, her former first mate, asked.

"No."

"Want some bread or something?"

"No." Kris said, turning over to face the wall.

"Want some rum?"

Kris sighed. "Yes."

Amara had then disappeared before returning with a bottle and a couple of glasses.

"What's wrong?" she asked, pouring out some rum.

"He kissed me."

"Again? But you've never reacted like this before."

"It's what he said that I'm reacting to." Kris said.

Amara nodded and took another sip of rum. All was silent for a moment before she spoke up again.

"He really likes you, you know."

Kris snorted. "Yeah, right. Since when do you know that? You only met him a couple of weeks ago." 

"I`ve been talking to people. He usually is onto everything that even _looks _like a female. He hasn`t been in the last little while. He hasn`t even hit on me!"

"So?"

"So?! So he has his heart floating around his head! He`s head over heels! He-"

"I get the point, Amara."

"Well." She said, before getting up to leave, "Just give it a chance, will you? You've been so miserable lately."

Which was true. Kris had to give her that. Who could blame her? Her ship and half her crew were laying at the bottom of the ocean, and her proudly held status of captain had been ripped away from her by a pirate who's compass didn't even point north. Even the thought of treasure lying before them didn`t seem to do the trick.  Well, not all the time anyway. At least before she had trying to remember the crew's names to occupy her. Now she knew them so well she thought she would scream if she said Anna-Maria or Gibbs in her head one more time.

 Kris had spent the next few days mostly thinking. And scrubbing the deck. She thought about many things; treasure being the main thing, Jack being one of the others. When were they going to get there? Why the heck did he even like her? How much treasure would there be? Did she like him? Were they wasting their time doing this? What did she like about him?

 Good question. What did she like about him? Well, his looks, for starters. They certainly weren't astounding or anything, but they were there. The fact that he didn`t seem to care what she did or how she did it. And that he wasn't much taller than her. And he could make her laugh, which was definitely true. Weather he was cracking a joke or trying to fool someone, and even when he got slapped by some woman at a port they had stopped at, he could make her laugh. 

 And she found herself doing strange things; daydreaming, singing, tying her hair up when it was windy or messy, that sort of thing. She didn't exactly like those changes, but no one else seemed to mind. Actually, (to her relief) no one even  noticed. 

 Then, one day at a small port they had stopped at, Kris was sitting absent-mindedly on a wide, sandy beach when Brett had come up and sat beside her. Brett, and his twin brother Bill, were pretty much like little brothers to her. She was constantly getting them out of trouble, and she couldn`t imagine what it would be like if she hadn`t found them shipwrecked in Bermuda. Neither of them could remember anything other than their names and how to handle a gun and sword, and had gratefully taken up the offer to join them. They had been around for a few years now, and she was entirely used to them asking stupid questions and getting tangled in rope and other things that lay around a ship. But they both were pretty good pirates, she had to admit that. 

 "What're you doing?" he asked.

"Sitting. Thinking. Getting hungry." She replied.

"Jack said to tell you that we're almost ready to set sail again." He said, chuckling. "He just got slapped again."

"What'd he do this time?"

"Nothing. Some lady just came up and gave it to him."

Kris had laughed pretty hard then. She could just picture the surprised look on his face, then the guilty one that would follow when he remembered exactly what he did. She could even picture the way he would try to explain himself… 

 As she was laughing, and Brett was staring at her quite strangely, well, Kris realised something important. And soon she wasn't just laughing at Jack, she was laughing at herself. She'd been completely unaware of it. She'd been so wrapped up in treasure and principals and other bilge that she had ignored it. She got up, forcing herself to stop laughing, and gripped Brett's shoulder for balance as she began laughing again, breathless laughs that forced her whole body to shake.

"Back to the ship, lad."  She said between breaths.

He nodded, slightly confused, and they went back.

The next morning they set sail again. Just as fate would have it, the one spot Kris hadn't cleaned on the entire ship was beside the wheel. Why it was constantly her job to scrub the deck was beyond her, but she was never one to complain. Much, that is.

 "You've scrubbed that spot so many times you're going to put a hole in it." Jack commented absent-mindedly, studying his compass as he steered.

"I wouldn't have to if you'd clean those boots once and a while." Kris retorted.

"With what, ocean water?"

"It wouldn't hurt."

"I'll be the one to decide that." He said, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

Kris kept on scrubbing, but looked up and saw the look on his face.

"What?"

"I was just thinking."

"I was just thinking your hair would look really good brushed."

"And you'd look really good on my arm, but there's not much chance of that, is there?"

"You're impossible." Kris said, still scrubbing.

"And you're implausible."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"As would I."

Kris finished scrubbing and stood up facing Jack. 

"Then I guess we're on the same level."

"From my view, you haven't quite reached my level."

Kris whacked him across the face, partly joking and partly because she never let anyone insult her height.

"You know," Jack said, rubbing his cheek, "I'm starting to think all you women just want a chance to touch my face."

Kris laughed. "I guess the view from the top doesn't shed much light on the things around you, does it?"

"I never said it was a bad view."

She leaned against the railing, looking out at the ocean. "Remember what you told me a few days ago?"

"That all you need to survive on a desert island is a keg of rum and some matches?"

"No, the other thing." She said, and pushed him against the wheel and gave him a small peck on the lips.

 He stood there, surprised, just staring at Kris smiling. A smile slowly broke across his face once he realised what had just happened. Kris laughed slightly and nodded sarcastically, but was stopped short because he was kissing her back.

 "Am I interrupting something?"  Anna-Maria said from behind them. She stood with her arms crossed, staring at them expectantly.

 "Uh… No?" Jack replied.

"Good. The bilge is leaking again, _captain_." She said, before turning and promptly walking away.

That was about as much as she could remember. Of course, once they reached the place the treasure had supposedly been, they had found it completely empty. Not one doubloon for miles around. But that hadn't mattered; they were on the ocean. They were free. Unlike Kris was now.


	2. Taking Action

Jack stared out at the ocean before him, eyes fixed intently on the small dark smudge they were headed for. 

 "Land ho!!!" the look out yelled for the third time.

"We KNOW!" Jack yelled. What a whelp. But even he couldn't ruin his good mood. Nothing could. Well, alright, maybe the fact that Kris was most likely going to kill him when they got around to Trawe (which was the next stop, if all went well), but he tried not to think about that too much.

 "So, what's the plan?" Anna-Maria asked him. She hadn't exactly been nice to him (jack somehow doubted she could be nice to anyone) but since the whole cursed skeleton incident, she at least hadn't mentioned that he still owed her a ship. 

 "We have a wedding to crash, Love."

Will's wedding. And why shouldn't he come? After all they've been through. But still, he wasn't about to expect a warm welcome. Especially not from Norrington. No doubt he'd still be mad about not being able to catch Jack. But what can he say? No one can catch _the _Captain Jack Sparrow. Well, not more than twice, anyway.

 Once the ship was anchored (not at a dock, of course, couldn't have the navy spotting it, could they?) Jack turned his crew loose and headed off towards the governor's mansion. No doubt most of his 'able bodied crew' had headed straight to the pub, where he would have gone if he didn't have other plans. 

 He easily snuck past the single guard standing outside the courtyard and into the midst of the party. Typical Port Royal; never suspecting anything. 

 Looked like he missed the wedding. No worries, the reception was where all the rum was anyway. And, hopefully, Will. 

 Jack pushed through the over-dressed crowd of what was no doubt Port Royal's finest, ignoring the stares and mumbled comments. Since when did the rich do anything about, well, anything? Never.

 As it turned out, Will wasn't all that hard to find. Elizabeth's gigantic wedding dress took care of that. Long, white silk skirts, puffed sleeves, the whole bit. Jack didn't even want to know how one would walk in a thing like that. But, despite the dress, Elizabeth seemed overjoyed. They both did; hey, they were finally married. Good for them. Maybe Jack shouldn't ruin their special day; maybe he should just leave and let them live their lives out happily together….. But what fun was that?

 Instead of heading straight towards them, Jack found it in his heart to head for the rum first. The least he could do was let them enjoy themselves…

 "Jack!" 

Too late.

He tuned around and saw Will heading towards them. Funny, he didn't look too upset to see him.

"Will!" Jack through his arms open in welcoming. "Congratulations!!"

Will first looked around to make sure no one was listening then turned back to Jack.

 "What are you doing here?" he whispered angrily. 

 "What, you're not happy to see me? On your wedding day?!"

"I'm not happy to see you _because _it's my wedding day." Will replied. He obviously had not forgotten that Jack had almost killed, hit on, and held his beloved Elizabeth for hostage.

"Can't we forget about the past, mate? Move on. Catch the horizon. Look to the future." Jack said.

Will looked back at Elizabeth, who was currently conversing with some of the livelier guests. 

"Well, hurry it up! Before she sees you. Why are you here?" he asked.

"What? A man can't ask an old friend's son to join him for a little sail on his ship?"

"No!" Will replied. "You came all the way here for that? Go! Before she sees you!"

Jack grabbed a bottle of rum. "But mate, the party's just started! What about the rum?!"

"Take it!" Will said hastily. "Now get out of here!"

_Well, _Jack thought as he trudged down the path leading from the mansion, rum in hand. _That went well._

                          *                               *                                *                             *

"You gotta get out of this house, Kris." Mia said from the doorway of her room. 

"And why's that?" Kris asked her little cousin. Cocky thing, Mia was. Seemed to think she could do anything she wanted, at any time. Thought she was invincible. Next ship to come to port, Mia would probably jump onto to get away from this place. Reminded Kris of herself at 14, actually.

"Because you've been sitting at that windowsill for so long you're going to get bedsores." Mia replied. "Go out, get some rum. Do something!"

Kris shook her head, but headed out the door anyway and started downstairs and out the door anyway, leaving Mia still standing at her doorway.

_ God, I hate that man._ Mia thought. She couldn't stand having Kris in the house in the first place, but it was worse to see her happy-go-lucky older cousin like this. She was never this down, never.

 Meanwhile, Kris headed to her favourite pub at the outskirts of the small town. She never ventured too far into town, not with the whole Navy wanting her head on a silver platter. These people did _not _take kindly to pirates, especially home-grown ones.

 She ventured into the pub and managed to find an empty table. 'The official pub of Trawe' was probably the _worst _pub in Trawe. Full of outlaws, strange smells and dirt, it was absolutely disgusting. Not that she minded. 

 A commotion behind her caused Kris to look up from her untouched drink. Two soldiers had burst into the pub, trailing a young boy behind them. 

 "You!" one of them yelled to the bartender. "This your son?"

"Uhh… yes…" the bartender replied. 

"We caught him sneaking into the governor's house. Again." The second soldier said, shoving the boy into the bartender's arms. "I suggest you keep a better eye on him."

 While the second soldier was talking, the first one began scanning the dimly lit pub. He locked eyes with Kris and headed over in her direction.

"Oh crap…" Kris muttered, hiding her face. Don't let them know who she is… please…

"Hello Lassie." He said. "This isn't entirely a friendly place to be."

"No, really, I'm fine." Kris replied, not looking at his face.

"Just doing my civic duty, Miss. Wouldn't want you to get hurt." 

"I appreciate the gesture." Kris said, relieved that the soldier obviously didn't suspect her of anything. She picked up her drink and took a sip as if to prove she was fine. The collar of her oversized shirt slipped off her shoulder in the process, revealing a small tattoo of two crossed swords with the Latin words 'the Notorious Captain Shorty' scrawled underneath. She didn't notice, but the soldier did.

 "This place could be crawling with… Pirates. Wouldn't want to run into one of those…"

He grabbed her arm and shouted to the other soldier, who was still lecturing the bartender. "Smith!! Smith, I've got her! I've got her!"

"Got who?!" the other soldier said, rushing over.

"That girl! The girl pirate! I've got her!!"

"What girl pirate?!"

"The one everyone's looking for! Karri… Kristine… Oh, I know this… Err…."

"Kristalle?"  Kris offered.

"Yes! That's the one! Kristalle Kayte! I've caught her, Smith, I've… Where'd she go?!" He said, looking around the pub. "I had her here a minute ago!!"

"That way!" Smith yelled, pointing at Kris as she sprinted out the door. "Get her!"

Kris ran as hard as she could, pushing through the crowd deeper into town. They were right behind her!  She caught the outstretched pole supporting a sign for a weaponry and swung overtop of it, landing on the roof. 

 "Where did she go?!" the soldier yelled as they passed underneath the sign. Kris flattened herself against the roof, attentively watching them. 

"That way!" the other soldier yelled, and they ran off.

Once Kris was sure the coast was clear, she stood up and brushed herself off. 

 "That was a close one…" she said as she hopped down off the other side of the building. Right into the midst off three other soldiers.

                  *                                     *                                    *                                        * 

Less than a week later, Will approached Jack in an old, filthy inn. 

"Knew you'd come back." Jack said when Will came up to him, not even bothering to look up from his drink. "The sea calls you. It's in your blood, mate."

"How do you know that's what I came to you about?" Will replied, grabbing Jack's rum and forcing him to look up. 

"Because." Jack said calmly. "You've got the girl, you've got the money, you've got respect and you've got a really big hat. Honestly, there's not much left."

Will was silent for a moment. In truth, he wasn't all that sure why he had come to Jack. Elizabeth was already off visiting family in England, right after their wedding. Why he hadn't gone with her, he couldn't say. 

 "Well, maybe I do miss the sea. What could you do about it? You're taking a great risk even coming here. I could inform the Navy of your whereabouts anytime."

"Exactly." Jack said. "But you're not going to tell them, are you? Honestly, you're a bit of a stick, aren't you?"

"A bit of a what? Wait, never mind, the point is…." Will's shoulders slumped, defeated. 

"We're leaving tomorrow." Jack continued. "Me ship's anchored just off the southern shore. Be there, and be early." 

 They had set sail early the next day. Without fail, Will had showed up just as Jack said he would. God, Jack loved being right.

 "Where are we going?" Will asked, after hours of Jack seemingly steering the ship aimlessly through the crystal blue waters.

 "We've got treasure to find. But first, we've got a map to steal. And I've got to pick something up off the coast of Trawe."

"And what would we be picking up?"

"My own bit of treasure, Mate."

For days they headed straight into the horizon. Nobody asked questions about where they exactly they would be going once they left Bermuda, everyone knew it wasn't likely Jack would give them a straight answer. Even if they did ask. 

"So." Will finally plucked up the courage to ask. "What's she like?"

"And who's this she you talk about?" Jack had replied, concentrating on his compass.

"Your 'treasure'. Never thought someone so…well, gruff could manage to fall in love."

Jack sighed impatiently, looking out at the waters before them. "You're too smart for your own good, Mate."

After a few moments of silence, he softly began to speak again. "She's… different. She's as beautiful as the glitter of gold; her touch is as soft as a summer breeze. She's fierce, she's gentle, she's… amazing.  And her laugh….."

 That had pretty much left Will in awe. Who was this man, and what had he done with Jack Sparrow? Sure, he acted the same, but…. Lets just say, he no longer stared at every woman who passed by.

 About a week later, they reached Trawe. Beautiful place, really. White beaches, blue waters, palm trees, even a quaint little town. But the docks weren't all that easy to maneuver through.

"Where are we going?!"  Will yelled as Jack steered the ship past the port. "The docks are that way!"

"Not our dock, lad." He replied, steering the Pearl past a small cove and around a cluster of rocks jutting out from the waters. They turned once more, and a small dock coma into view. Behind it, a small house rested among the sand dunes and palm trees.

"This is our dock."

Once they had tied up the pearl, an old man hobbled out of the house, followed by a sultry looking girl.

"Hey!!" the man yelled. "What do you think yer doing?! Can't you see this is a private port? Get off my land before I skewer your guts!!!"

 "Benjamin!!" Jack yelled, hopping down off his ship and onto the dock. Will followed.

 "It's me!!"

The man stared angrily for a moment, before his eyes widened in recognition.

"Jack!" he said.

The girl who had followed the man out of the house narrowed her eyes and stepped forward. "You! You weasly little no good son of a-"

"Mia!!" Benjamin yelled. "Mind your manners!" he turned to Jack.

"What brings you back to Trawe?"

"Surely you know what I came back for." Jack said. 

Benjamin smiled and nodded. "aye, I know. Come on in, your crew can rope up your ship at my port anytime."

"Isn't she a little young for you?" Will whispered to Jack as Benjamin led them into the house.

"Who, Mia? No, she's not the one, Mate." Jack had replied.

"So, Ben, where's Kris?"

Benjamin turned to face Jack. "Err… Mia, would you mind getting our guests something to drink? They must be thirsty."

Once Mia had left, Benjamin sighed. "I'm afraid this is the last time she will be caught."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"She's… err, how can I put this… she's being executed today."

"WHAT?!"

"Jack, there's nothing I can do!" Ben said hastily. "I'm old! I can't even make it into town, let alone save my own niece! And I can't send Mia there, Jack! I can't let her watch Kris die…"

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Jack yelled. "C'mon Will, we're going."

"Don't do anything rash!!" Benjamin said as Jack dragged Will out the door. "The whole town will be there!"

"Where are we going?!" Will asked, struggling out of Jack's grasp.

"Where do you think we're going? We're saving Kris."

"Who?!"

"Kris!! The girl! My girl! Now hurry up Mate, we don't have much time!!!" 


	3. The Execution

Kris stood staring mournfully out at the crowd before her. The drums beat in a depressing death march. It was over, it was done…

 She tried to look dignified as she stood awaiting her death. Her hands were tied behind her; her hair had been scraped up into a ponytail so it wouldn't get in the way of the executioner's sword. Cheap little island. Couldn't even waste any rope to hang her, no, it had to be done the old fashioned way.

 "We're here at the execution of long sought after Kristalle Kayte." The general said to the crowd, as he read from a large scroll of paper.

 "It's Kris." She said under her breath.

"Miss Kayte has been charged on numerous accounts of Piracy, theft, destroying of public property, deception, torture..."

Jack and Will entered the square as the general was reading out Kris's charges. 

"Ok." Jack said to Will in a hushed voice. "What we need is a plan. Think…"

"…holding a soldier of the Royal British Army for hostage, impersonating a soldier of the Royal British Army, possessing an unlicensed wild animal on her ship…" 

Jack looked up at Kris standing before her death. As always, she remained calm and dignified, yet he could just imagine the little gears inside her head working at full speed, developing her escape.

"You," Jack whispered, turning to Will and grabbing his shoulder. "Go up behind the platform. Don't let yourself be seen. As soon as I fire the first shot at the executioner standing behind Kris, I want you to take out the general. Get any soldier that comes near you, and most importantly, _don't kill Kris_. Hurt her and I will have to hurt you. Savvy?"

 Will almost said something in protest, but shut his mouth and nodded. 

"…impersonating a bartender to the Official Royal Pub in Bermuda, impersonating the Queen of England, impersonating a locksmith, breaking and entering, and setting a cage of tigers loose on the city of Trawe."

 _They were locked up in too small a cage._ Kris thought. She scanned the crowd for any familiar faces, anyone, but all she saw was a bunch of people waiting eagerly to see some blood spill. There's got to be someone here….. 

 There!!!! Kris spotted a familiar hat and hair at the far left of the crowd, pushing towards the center. Jack!! She knew he'd come back. A huge was weight lifted off her shoulders. He hadn't forgotten about her. Just getting to see him one last time was enough for her. 

 Jack stopped dead center in the crowd and turned towards the platform that had been raised so the people could have a better view of her death. Their eyes locked for a split second, before Jack's vision switched to a spot just behind her, giving no indication of even seeing her. 

 "Any more crimes that we don't know about, Kristalle?" The general asked.

Kris turned her gaze to the general and gave a slight grin.

 "Nothing that will grace your ears today, General." She said cockily. 

"Well then," the general said gruffly. "If that's all. You," he said, turning to the executioner,

"Get her on her knees."

 The executioner grabbed the back of Kris's shirt and roughly through her to the ground. He shoved her neck onto the rock which was to stop the sword from hitting the ground. The cold stone stung her skin, yet she still didn't wince. 

"Any last words from the pirate?" the general said.

 Kris remained silent.

The executioner raised his sword, ready to strike. One quick slash was all it would take… it was over…

_BANG!!_

 The shot rang out across the square. People ran around in panic, completely oblivious to the scene taking place on the platform.

 Will had come up behind the general and knocked him out with the but of his sword, before desperately trying to fight off the hoards of soldiers that had rushed towards him.

 Kris lay on the ground beside the place the executioner's sword had fallen, just inches away from her face. She struggled to get up as Jack joined Will and they fought the soldiers side by side.

 But she couldn't just stand watching. A crazed-looking soldier had come up behind her. Kris whipped around just in time to see him with his sword raised to attack, and struggled to throw her hands up in front of her before realising they were still tied behind her back. She turned around just as the soldier brought his blade down, and it slashed through the ropes binding her hands. 

 Just in time, Kris turned around and punched the soldier square in the jaw, knocking him out.  She then grabbed his sword and fought off the soldiers that were heading towards her. She easily fought off the first two, but found herself locked in a seemingly endless battle with the third. The soldier's sword locked with her own, and neither of them would budge. Angry, Kris looked at the two swords before kicking the soldier in the groin, causing him to double over in pain. Seeing her chance, Kris kneed him in the face and knocked him out.

  Once all the soldiers were either unconscious or, well, Kris didn't really want to know what happened to the rest of them, she picked herself up off the ground (where a soldier had knocked her over, she succeeded in kicking him in the face) and looked around.

 Jack and Will were there waiting for her at the bottom of the platform. Kris immediately saw them and stomped down the wooden steps leading from the platform at an alarming speed.

 "Kris!" Jack exclaimed, throwing out his arms in welcoming. But she didn't stop as she headed straight towards him… Oh no… He knew that face….

 _Whack!!!!_

She socked him one, right in the jaw. Just as he remembered it… she was stronger than she looked. As she stood there, fuming, Jack rubbed his jaw.

 "Now Kris." He started. "I know I deserved that, but did you really-"

She cut him off by grabbing his face and kissing him. Now, this was something he preferred to remember. They kissed for a few moments, while standing in front of a nearly disgusted Will, long, passionate moments. Then the whelp decided to ruin it all by clearing his throat. 

 They broke their kiss and Kris stared up at him. "You're right." She said finally, pushing him away. Her old temperament was starting to return. "You did. Where were you?! You can't just _leave_ me here! Not without notice!!"

 "But Kris, I-" 

"Don't you 'but Kris' me Jack. You took of with my crew, you took off with my _hat_, which, judging by your now wearing your old one, I can see you've lost, and you took off with, well, you!"

 "Kris. I had to go!" Jack exclaimed. "The whole royal navy was after me!! You can understand that!"

 "I would be able to if you had taken off with me with you!!" Kris said.

"Kris, do you really think I would have done that?"

"YES!! And you should have!"

"But… Kris, I… didn't want you to get hurt." Jack said quietly.

 Kris's face softened. _Damn you Jack. You're making me go soft._

"Jack, I've fended for myself out there for most of my life. I wouldn't have gotten hurt."

"I know." 

 Will cleared his throat again. Jack and Kris both whipped their heads over in his direction.

"Who're you?" Kris said, getting annoyed.

"Oh, that's Will."  Jack explained. "Son of bootstrap. You remember…."

"Oh yeah! Old bootstrap, I remember him! Good man, he was." Kris replied, holding out her hand to Will.

 "Err, hello." Will said, shaking her hand.

"Anyway, Jack, where were you?" Kris started. 

"Tortunga." Jack replied. 

"I should have figured." Kris said, turning around and heading to the edge of town, leaving the two men standing behind her. Jack's stomach lurched. She was leaving him! He _knew _she'd do this, he just knew it! 

 Kris turned back to them. "You coming or what?"


	4. Through Mia's Eyes

(Author's note: I just HAD to write a chapter from Mia's point of view! She's my fave!!)

 "I knew you'd escape." Mia commented as Kris gleefully stomped through the door, that _man _and Will following. She resisted the temptation to run up and hug her death-defying cousin, but couldn't hide her happiness.

 "Damn right, Mi!" Kris said, sweeping her little cousin up in a bear hug. So much for Mia's no-physical-contact rule. "And I couldn't have done it without Jack!"

 Ugh. 

Jack looked overly smug, slipping his arm around Kris's waist. Mia really wished he wouldn't do that. She hated him, and it practically made her cringe to think about him being that close to her, _kissing_ her. She didn't even want to _think_ about what else they did.

 "I really couldn't leave you to die, now could I?" he replied, burying his face into Kris's hair and whispering something into her ear, which made her grin widely.

 Gross.

The other man, Will, looked vaguely uncomfortable as he watched them carry on so happily. She had no doubt that he would be as disgusted as she was.

 "Kris!" her father exclaimed as he hobbled into the room. At least he was happy. She hardly ever saw dear-old-dad in a good mood, mostly due to his busted knees but partly due to her. But what could she say? She hated wearing dresses, and she had to cause havoc for being forced to. 

 "Aww, Jack, you sea-dog you!" her father said gleefully. "I don't know what we'd do without you!"

  Hmmm, enjoying life in peace, perhaps?

 "Well what are you doing? Come in, come in, you can tell us all about it." Her father continued. "Mia, get us some drinks, will you?"

Mia scowled and turned towards the kitchen.

"I'll go with her." She heard Kris say. Mia could always count on her to brighten he mood, or at least loosen it a bit. 

 "Don't be long." _He _said. It's a wonder he could even part his hands from her, let alone- _GASP-_

Be in a separate room from her! 

 Kris followed Mia into the cramped little kitchen.

They carried on the same way they used to when Mia was young; she would struggle to reach the glasses in the high-up cupboard while Kris would kick open the cabinet near the door of the kitchen to retrieve the drinks. She always took out some fine wine for Mia's dad (it was about all he could stomach these days) and a bottle of cinnamon rum for her.

 Mia plonked the glasses down on a worn tray on the rotting wooden table, as Kris took a long swig of the rum, straight from the bottle. She poured a glass half-full and slid it across the table to Mia, in a don't-tell-and-I'll-give-you-more kind of manner. Kris always did that, it was a wonder Mia wasn't a drunk. 

 Kris sat down in one of the chairs and leaned back, resting her feet up on the table, humming. Yes, actually _humming_. Her cousin. The murderous one. Humming. It was a disgrace. Mia really wished she knew what Kris saw in that man, because all she saw was some black eyeliner and a whole whack of gold teeth.

 Kris only lived at this house 3 times. The first was when her mother died, and she was forced to. The second was when Mia was born. And the third was still in place. Mia couldn't remember Kris living there when she was a baby, but she always heard stories about it. No one would have thought Kris would give a second look at a baby, but when she found out her aunt was pregnant, she rushed right in and plonked herself down with a receiving blanket. Mia's mother had died during labour, but Kris had stuck around, surprising everyone, to help take care of her. She fed her and put her to sleep and read her stories, until Mia was around one year old. Then Kris had felt 'the calling' and left to sail the open waters.

 One of the only people who had ever seen Kris's soft side was Mia.

She also remembered Kris visiting. Mostly when she was little, Kris used to drop in every once and a while to see her. Mia could remember Kris giving her piggybacks and teaching her how to use a sword, but she could remember the stories the best. Kris told fantastic stories; even if Mia knew most of them weren't true. 

 There had been no stories lately.

When Kris saw Mia had finished her drink, she removed her feet from the table and stood up. "Guess they'll be wanting their drinks, eh Mi?" she said with a devious grin that Mia couldn't quite figure out. Instead of dwelling on it, she followed her out of the kitchen and into the sitting room, where Jack was busy recapturing the events of the day for Mia's father, occasionally letting Will get in a word or two. 

 "So anyway then- you're back!" Jack said, reaching out for a glass of Mia's tray as Kris poured drinks into the rest of them. 

 Mia sat down and listened to their on-going story in silence. She watched as Jack animatedly took off from where he left, somewhere around when Kris was about to get beheaded by the 'great hulk' of an executioner. He managed to drain 4 glasses or rum while he did this. As he talked, Mia imagined him in the place of Kris and her in the place of the executioner. And no one to save him.

 She almost felt bad about hating her cousin's saviour. 

 Almost.

                                          *                          *                          *

  Mia always slept fitfully. Head mostly hidden under her covers, reddish-brown hair sprawled out across the pillow, she would sleep away until high noon. As she was doing now.

 She lay in the peaceful darkness of her room, savouring those delicious moments of limbo between consciousness and sleep. She did not know weather she was just falling asleep or waking up, and right now she didn't care. It was just so serene….

 Someone was talking to her. Whispering poetic words, words of beauty and love. Such nice words….

 _I love you….. And I always will…_

So nice…

She felt someone sit on the edge of her bed, the weight making her slip slightly sideways.

_I don't know what I'd do without you…._

Me neither…

_You're my world…….. Beautiful…… today…… I love you…… Kris……_

Yes, so nice, go on, please do….. 

Kris?

The single word jarred her awake. Kris…. That wasn't right…She wasn't Kris… Wait a minute!

 Someone was in her room!!

Mia left her peaceful state with a loud scream.

 "AAAAAAAAH!!! GET OUT!!" she yelled, kicking the person sitting at the foot of her bed. 

"GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!!!!!!!"

 "What the-" the person said in an unmistakeable slur. Jack. 

"GET THE HELL OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Mia screamed as Jack jumped up. She tried to kick him again as she realised he had probably thought she was Kris. Too bad.

 "What…… Mia?!" Jack threw his arms up to protect his face as she whipped one of her pillows at him. 

 "GET OUT OF MY ROOM!!!" She yelled one last time as Jack rushed out the door. He poked his head back in the door to say something, but another pillow flying in his direction sent him off for good. 

 Bloody pirate.

                                         *                             *                           *

  The next day, Jack made a point of avoiding Mia as much as he possibly could. And with good reason, too. She was feeling absolutely murderous.

 Besides the fact that there was a large, creaky ship full of pirates tied up to the dock feet from her house, the routine went pretty much as usual. She got up around noon, helped her Father make lunch, ate lunch, then just kind of sat around and vegetated. 

 It made Mia feel a little better to see that Kris was back to her normal schedule, the one that had been going on before she slipped into depression. She had heard Kris up at around nine in the morning, and now she could see her from her bedroom window, swimming in the ocean like she usually did. Kris always swam with her clothes on. Every time Mia asked why, Kris would just reply that it was like washing yourself and your clothes at the same time.

 There were so many things Mia didn't get about her cousin.

But still, at least Jack wasn't with her. Oh wait, never mind. His shaggy-haired head appeared from the water, laughing. Mia watched them emotionlessly as they chased, splashed, and tormented each other. She turned away in disgust when they started to kiss.

 What exactly she didn't like about Jack, other than he was a filthy-drunken-womaniser, Mia couldn't quite place her finger on. She just disliked him. Everything from his unruly hair to his coal-lined eyes to his gold teeth to his drunken gestures and obsession for jewellery, she hated. 

 A few hours later, Mia had been forced outside by a laughing Kris and her pushy father to join Jack's crew for a supper. They had lit a gigantic bonfire and roasted various types of meat over it, and everyone was drinking and laughing and generally having a good time. Except her. 

 For the few precious moments Jack wasn't at Kris's side, Mia would hang around her. For the majority of the night, though, she found herself at her father's side or trying to make conversation with Anna-Maria. Anna-Maria was one of the only members of Jack's crew she actually liked. They had a few things in common. 

  And Mia was pretty sure she disliked Jack almost as much as she herself did.

But Mia just couldn't get last night's scene out of her head, no matter how hard she tried. She could almost laugh at the way Jack's face had looked when he realised he was whispering sweet-nothings into his object of obsession's little cousin's ear. But what he had said still bothered her as much as it had the night before. She just couldn't bring herself to admit it. She'd _kill if anyone found out what she'd been thinking. Actually, she'd do worse._

 But the thing is, she actually found what he said sweet.

                                                *                         *                         *

 "We're leaving tomorrow." Jack announced the next day.

"Why?" Mia asked, not to him but to Kris. Now that Kris was back to her normal self, Mia didn't want her to leave yet.

 "We really have no time to waste." Jack said, leaning closer as Kris left the room to aid Mia's dad in getting out of his chair. "Wouldn't want to slack off, would we, Mi?"

 Mia looked at him in disgust. "I'm sure that even if you had time to waste, _Jack_, you'd be late anyway. And do I really need to remind you that my name is Mia?"  She said angrily. Only one person was allowed to call her Mi.

 Jack raised his hands defensively. "No need to get touchy, Mi. And please, call me captain."

Mia then stormed off. Who was he to speak like that to her?! 

She sat on her bed, brooding about how she could discreetly get back at him. After almost an hour, Mia came to a conclusion. There was only one way she could substantially get back at that slime ball _and_ get what she wanted. Mia grinned deviously, in much the same way she had seen Kris grin. But she couldn't help it.

 Her plan was just way too perfect.


	5. Surprise surprise

"Don't forget about me, now." Benjamin said to Kris. "I may be retired, but I could still teach you quite a few things about piracy."

 Kris laughed and hugged him. One of the many ways she wasn't like other pirates; she showed affection when needed. "No need to worry 'bout that, now is there? I'm sure we'll be back to torment you in a while."

 Benjamin nodded and patted her on the back. Mia was no where in sight; Kris figured she was just inside moping. She did that every time she left, it was sort of like a tradition. Kris would say she's leaving and Mia wouldn't talk to her until she left.

 "Tell Jack I said goodbye." Benjamin said, tapping his foot on the dock.

 Kris looked up at the ship and yelled "Benjamin says goodbye!!" at the crew. They got numerous replies back.

 "Well," she said, climbing up to the deck, "I'm off. Goodbye!" 

 She waved to him as they pulled out of the port, sailing straight towards the still rising sun. She stared at her childhood home almost dismally before it faded into the distance, getting smaller and smaller until there was no trace of it on the smooth waters…

 Kris shook her head, and pushing back the usual feelings of regret she always got from leaving, and went straight to work.

                                                   *                      *                     *

 Mia's stomach lurched as the ship rose up onto another wave, and came down with a deafening crash. For the fifth time in a row, Mia wished she could just die. Anything was better than this torture… Up, down, up, down… She felt light-headed, she was dizzy, and she was bathed in a cold sweat that hadn't left her in two days…

 What had she been thinking? Stowing away on a ship, what a _stupid _thing to do… She hadn't even been on a ship before! Oh, why did she think she could handle this…

 Her original plan had been to stow away on the Black Pearl, which proved to be easy enough, and hide inside one of the rowers, also done, striking fear into the slimeball's heart by creeping around at night and stealing his things, writing on his walls and such. So much for that. The first night Mia had managed to stand long enough to walk around the ship, she had succeeded in stealing Jack's hat (something she was sure he would be angered by) but the thing stank so badly that it just made her feel even more sick. So for the next two days, she had lay underneath the rower, hiding from the crew and wondering how much more of this she could take. She'd heard that you can get sea-sick your first time being on a ship, but Mia had never imagined it would affect her, let alone be this bad…

 Mia could remember wanting to be a pirate when she was a child. No, she could remember _yearning _to be a pirate. The stories her father told about his ship and sunken treasure had always charmed her. But if her father's stories charmed her, Kris's stories amazed her. Stories of battling the legendry Captain Hubbs, who's crew had been rumoured to have been turned into a flock of gulls because they stole a sorceress's treasure. And Mia's favourite story, the one about Kris's first ship and how she and Amara had stowed away on a pirate's ship when they were 13 and almost being sent into the depths of Davie Jones's locker for it. They had both made it seem so glamorous…

 Mia could no longer see any light coming from the cracks of her rower, it must be night time. The worn planks of the ship's deck creaked and groaned beneath her as she heard someone yelling orders to the crew… She heard the crew as they walked past her hiding spot, one by one heading inside… To a nice, warm bed and a fitful sleep… what she would give to be one of them right now…

  All was silent. The ship's rocking became less violent, yet the absence of its lurching movements just made Mia feel sicker. A gull squawked from somewhere among the ship's deck, she could hear a soft wind rustling the sails… 

 Mia was sure that all the residents of the Black Pearl were inside in their cabins. Maybe getting out of this overturned rower would help her stomach, surely to stand up and breath in some fresh air would do her some good.

 With great difficulty, Mia pushed the rower up and slid out from underneath it. Ah, fresh air… It was so, so, _sublime _to be out of that rower, away from that hat and the rotting planks of the boat's interior… She stood up and gripped the rail winding around the ship's deck for balance. She could barely stand in her condition, yet she still tried to walk. She stumbled aimlessly towards the mast, hoping the center of the ship wouldn't be so bad. She was wrong. She could see a figure way up in the crow's nest as fatigue overcame her… she couldn't stand, her legs were as useful as rubber, her bones like jelly… Someone yelled at her, but she couldn't hear. She couldn't think straight… _God, just let me die… get this over with…_

 The last thing Mia could remember before she blacked out was slumping to the ground, in front of a grimy pair of boots.

                                             *                          *                      * 

 "Back to your old ways, I see." Jack commented from his wheel. Kris just shook her head and continued scrubbing.

 "You're the worst perfectionist I've ever seen." He said again, studying his compass.

"I can't help it if I'm the only one who knows how to scrub a deck without getting tangled in a pile of rope." Kris replied, trying to hide the smile that had snuck its way onto her face. She couldn't remember being this cheerful in a long time. 

 "By the way, where are Bill and Brett?" Jack asked. "And Amara?"

"Bill and Brett are in Mexico." Kris replied, getting up and standing beside him as he steered. "We can pick them up if it's not too much of a problem. And Amara just recently got married."

 "Really. Amara? I never would have though she of all people would tie the knot." 

"Better believe it." Kris replied. "She only knew the man for a month."

 Jack shook his head. "Why am I not surprised? Anyway, you wouldn't mind taking over for a while, would you luv?"

 "Sure." Kris replied, slightly surprised. She'd only been behind the wheel of his ship a couple times, both of which he had other things to do. 

 "Thanks Luv." He said, before stepping down and walking towards the cabins. 

 Kris would have wondered what he was up to, had it had been anyone else other than Jack and  she hadn't been so preoccupied with actually being behind the wheel of his ship.

                       *                                 *                               *

 Mia awoke slowly, first feeling something soft beneath her. Then the throbbing sensation returned to her body. She slowly opened her eyes, not wanting to wake up but afraid of what might happen if she went back to sleep… 

 She opened her eyes and saw someone staring back at her, his face just inches away from hers.

 "AAAAHH!!!!" Mia yelled, jumping up. She immediately recognised the man standing before her. "JACK?! What the hell?!"

 Jack jumped back. "Whoa, sorry Mi. Just tryin to see if you're awake."

"Well I am!!" Mia screamed. She was now fully awake, and aware of her surroundings. She had been lying on a small couch in the middle of what seemed to be a sitting room. For a split second she thought she was in a house, but the soft rise and fall of the floor and the smell of the salt air told her that she was still on the ship.

 "What the hell am I doing here?" she asked.

"I don't know. You tell me." Jack replied, taking on his usual persona and beginning to pace the room. "You show up on my ship, three days after we leave mind you, and you ask me why you're here. That doesn't sound right, now does it?"

 Mia opened her mouth to object, but Jack kept on going.

 "As you may have heard, most pirates who find stowaways on their ships usually kill them on the spot, something I've had experience in. Mind you, none of them had ever succeeded in taking my hat. Now there's something that could really boil my blood." He leaned on the table in front of the couch Mia was resting on, his face yet again inches from hers. Mia couldn't tell if he was lying about anything he said, but she didn't dare object to any of it. Instead she stared him straight in the eye, making sure her face was void of any emotion whatsoever that could get her into trouble.

 "I'm sure you can understand why." He said, smiling his gold-toothed smile. "Now what do you think I should do about you, Mi? I won't kill you, no, that wouldn't be very nice of me now would it? But I could send you off the side of my ship, that way I couldn't be sure if you lived or not. Or maybe we should send you out in that rower you were hiding under and see how long you can fend all by your whatsies, without any food or provisions. How does that sound?"

 Mia continued staring back at him, scowling. "You are one disturbed man if I've ever met one."

 "Maybe so, but just remember you are on this disturbed man's ship, Mi."

"More like rowboat." Mia spat back. "I'll bet this creaky hunk of driftwood couldn't make it through the smallest of storms, even with _the captain Jack Sparrow behind the wheel."_

 Jack frowned. "Touchy little thing, aren't you?"

"Three guesses where I got it from."

"Well, Mimi-"

"_Mia!"_

"Mia, I'll let you rest in here until I think up something good for you." Jack said, standing up and walking towards the door. "Don't try to get out; I've locked the door, unless of course you want to take a tumble out of the window. And if you have to, well, if you get sick again, kindly aim it _away from the furniture. Savvy?"_

 Mia didn't answer, but instead stared at the floor.

"Well then, I'll be seeing you around then. Goodbye." And he walked out of the door, leaving Mia to wallow in her self pity.

 "Back so soon?" Kris said as she heard the familiar sound of Jack's boots coming from behind her. "And I was having so much fun."

 "Easy to amuse, aren't you?" Jack said, grabbing her and dipping her down, kissing her passionately on the lips.

 "Hello." Kris said, surprised. "What's that all about?"

 "Nothing." Jack said, returning her to an upright position. "Just happy to see you."

"Ok." Kris said, smiling again. That didn't happen everyday.

 "And I want my ship back." Jack joked.

"I should have known."  Kris said, moving over and letting him take his place at the wheel. After all, it was his ship.


	6. A Bloody Frustrating Game

Author's not: yeah yeah short chapter, I know. More comin soon.

Kris absent-mindedly flicked one of the many coins in front of her into the nearly-full bottle of rum resting on the wooden table between her and Jack, effortlessly sending it sinking to the bottom of the bottle. Judging by the way she was sprawled across the two chairs at her end of the table, with one arm carelessly draped across the back of one chair and one of her legs resting on the other, it really _was _an easy thing for her to do. Jack, on the other hand, was hunched over his pile of coins, concentrating endlessly on the place his coin was supposed to go. Finally, and with much effort, he flicked the coin at the bottle. It bounced off the bottom of the bottle and landed on the floor, along with most of his other coins.

 "You're even worse at this when you're sober." Kris commented, grinning as she swirled some of the drink that had leaked from the bottle (most probably due to one of Jack's wayward coins) and laughed softly.

 "Not everyone has spent hours on end doing this, and if I can recall correctly, it is by winning that you lose your sober state." Jack replied, scowling as Kris sank another coin to the bottom of the bottle. "Or have you forgotten to tell me about another one of your rule changes?"

 Will shook his head as he watched all of this, interested in how they carried on so. Though he could easily picture Jack seated at a table flinging things into a bottle of cinnamon rum, he had been surprised to find him and Kris doing this alone and sober, acting as if this were some sort of tradition that must be upheld. But it had been Kris herself that had surprised him the most. He had expected her to be more feminine, prissier, or at least more like the Tortunga women Jack so shamelessly chased after. 

 Kris grinned again and waited patiently for Jack to take his next shot. An air of coolness surrounded her every move, but Will could see a glint of excitement in her blueish-grey eyes. He had no doubt that she was enjoying this to the full extent that she could.

 Jack flicked one of his coins again, and came dangerously close to hitting the bottle. But instead, it flew across the table and narrowly missed Kris's face.

 "Sorry luv." Jack said, not looking up from the coin he was concentrating on shooting. 

Kris laughed shakily and shook her head. "At least you didn't hit me this time. Remember that time in Mexico? You nearly took my eye out." She waited patiently for Jack to take his next shot. 

 "You've never seen anyone do this before, have you Will?" She said passively, not bothering to look up from their game.

 "Well, uh, no." Will replied, surprised that they were finally giving notice to him. Neither of them had looked up when he walked in almost fifteen minutes ago, so he had just assumed they hadn't noticed him. "I don't even know what it is."

 "Just a game." Kris replied as Jack finally got a coin in. 

"A bloody frustrating game at that." Jack added, though he was smiling. "How's that for form?"

 "I've seen better." Kris replied. "You sure you won't be joining us, Will?"

"No, thanks." Will said, smoothing a few stray strands of his hair away from his face nervously. "Just watching."

 "Ok." Kris replied, before flicking another coin into the bottle. "Twenty! That's game, Sparrow."

 "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Jack said, but continued smiling none the less as Kris grabbed the rum and held it up triumphantly. She shoved the rest of the coins over to Jack and began to try and fish out the coins from the bottle.

 "I thought you won?" Will asked, eyeing Jack as he scooped up the money and shoved it in his pockets.

 Kris waved the bottle around in the air. "I did."

 Will nodded, still slightly confused, and sat down at the table also. Though Kris acted like she had just beat Jack to a pulp and Jack acted like his ego was substantially bruised, Will couldn't help notice the way they smiled at each other. Sweet, really.

 "Anyway." Jack said, standing up and stretching, "I should be going now. It's getting late."

 "It's ten o clock." Kris replied, glancing at the clock hanging on the wall. "Since when do you go to bed this early?"

 "You've tired me out." Jack replied, kissing her lightly on the cheek and heading towards the door. "And you know me. Gotta get up early to catch the worm."

 "Goodnight." Kris said as he walked out the door. Will noticed she toyed with her single gold hoop earring as she watched him walk out. 

 "Why do you always do that?" he asked finally, apparently jarring Kris away from her thoughts.

 "Do what?"

"Never mind." Will replied. "Goodnight." And he walked out also, leaving Kris still sprawled out over the two chairs, fidgeting nervously with her earring.

                               *                                            *                                                 *

A knock came from the door to the room Mia was locked in, jarring her from her thoughts. "You decent?" Jack's voice came from behind the door. He knocked again, louder this time.

 "Depends on what you mean by decent." Mia replied sulkily. It had been bad enough cooped up in this room all day, but Mia had a feeling that the night wouldn't be any better. Bloody pirate.

 "Ready or not." Jack replied, opening the door and stepping in. "You're mood hasn't improved much, has it?" 

 "Are you trying to make me hate you?" Mia commented, eyeing him as he barged in. "Or does it just come naturally?"

 "I'd say a bit of both, Luv." Jack said cheerfully, shoving a pile of clothes into her arms.

"You're not going to make me wash these?" Mia said, eyeing the pile in her arms. "Because I'd rather plunge myself over the side of this ship than be caught doing your laundry."

 "Don't worry, there's no need for drowning yourself. They're for you to _wear_, Mia dear. I'd rather you complain about being held captive by me than complain about that damn dress all the time. Besides, that rag you're wearing has pretty much rotted away from being inside that rower."

 Mia was too surprised to answer. She unfolded the crumpled shirt, a plain brown thing with ruffled cuffs and a lace-up front, studying it. The pants were of plain black and made of a material unknown to her, and surprisingly, they both seemed to be her size.

 "I daresay they'd fit." Jack said as he watched Mia inspect the clothing. 

"Where did you get these?" Mia demanded finally. 

"Don't worry, luv, they won't be missed."

 "You stole them?" Mia said, feeling her face flush with anger. "You stole them! From who?!"

 "Er." Jack grinned slyly.

 "You stole them." Mia said simply. "From Kris. God Jack, I don't even want to _know _how you got these!"

 "Seems you've figured out as much, Mi." 

"MIA!!!!" Mia screamed at him. "I demand you take me out of this room THIS INSTANT!!! You can't keep me cooped up in here forever, Sparrow! I swear if I EVER-"

 Mia's words were cut off by Jack promptly leaving the room, slamming the door behind him. The grinding of the key turning inside the lock was the only noise she could hear.

 "JACK!!!" she yelled, pounding on the door. "Let-me-OUT!!"

 "Sorry luv!" Jack's voice came, muffled from the door between them. "It's for your own good, I swear! No hard feelings?"

 "Like hell!" Mia screamed, but the only answer she got was the sound of Jack's boots thumping away from her. 

 Defeated, Mia slumped to the floor, leaning against the door with her head in her hands. Bloody no good dirty pirate.

 She looked up to see the clothes lying in a pile on the floor, right where Mia had dropped them. She stared at them for a moment, before picking them up. Weather they were Kris's clothes or not, anything was better than a corset.


	7. No such thing

Elizabeth sat staring out at the ocean, her features illuminated by the sunlight reflecting off the water. She sighed as she traced her finger lightly around a pane of glass in the window, her thoughts wandering away from the soft rocking of the boat. Her heart ached from not seeing Will for so long, and it only made the pain worsen when she thought back on how he had declined to travel with her. Surely he loved her, surely he hadn't grown tired of seeing her so shortly after their wedding…

 "Are you all right Mrs. Turner?"  A voice came from the doorway. Elizabeth looked up to see Eponine, her maid, standing in the doorway to one of the many rooms in her cabin suite. Her young face was laced with traces of obvious worry, and her green eyes were soft with a mixture of admiration and something Elizabeth couldn't quite put her finger on, something that gave her the impression that Eponine had seen and heard many things, everything from happiness to sorrow to wars and death…

 "Of course, no need to worry." Elizabeth replied finally. "I was just thinking, that is all."

 Eponine smiled softly and walked over to Elizabeth, her confident stride muted by the obvious gracefulness that she was attempting to show. She sat down beside Elizabeth on the cushiony window seat. Such forwardness would have made any woman of high class cringe, but Elizabeth liked the way Eponine saw everyone on the same level. She knew that the only reason Eponine acted so was that she was quite new to serving people, and didn't know much of etiquette, but Elizabeth still found her strange ways friendly and comforting. 

 "Of course you were thinking." Eponine said, her eyes sparkling. "It is what you were thinking of that troubles me."

 "Then I obviously have no need to tell you what is on my mind." Elizabeth said sadly. Her eyes immediately wandered to the setting sun, slowly sinking below the crystal waters. 

 "You have no need to worry, Mrs. Turner. I have never seen a man look at a woman the way your husband looks at you."

 Hearing Eponine refer to Will as her husband gave Elizabeth a slightly giddy feeling, but reality was quick to bring her mood back down to the state it had been at before.

"As you often say, Eponine," Elizabeth said, "You can never be so sure with men."

"A dirty rotten bunch of scoundrels if I you ask me." Eponine was quick to agree. "No offence intended."

 Elizabeth nodded and continued staring out at the ocean. She lightly touched her hand to her hair as she felt the comb holding it in slip out, letting her long, fair hair fall down around her shoulders.

 "Oh, Mrs. Turner!" Eponine exclaimed excitedly. "You know what that means don't you?"

 "That I will have to re-do my hair before supper?" Elizabeth said, picking up the elegant looking comb.

 "No, well yes, it does mean that, but haven't you ever heard what people say about hairpins falling out of your hair?" Eponine said. "It's supposed to mean your loved one is thinking of you."

Elizabeth smiled. "You always were a superstitious one, Eponine. And a gossipy one, too. Have you heard anything lately?" Elizabeth always had trouble stopping herself from asking Eponine that particular question. She still didn't get told much from the noblemen around her, but Eponine had a way of finding out anything that was going on about the place.  

 "There's been talk on the ship, Ma'am." Eponine said. "A merchant ship dropped off a load of letters just recently from Port Royal, and-"

 "From Port Royal?" Elizabeth interrupted, snapping her head away from the window and staring at Eponine curiously. "When was this?"

 "Three weeks ago…" Eponine said, thinking. "Or possibly four, I'm terrible with dates."

_ And there was no letter from Will. _Elizabeth thought sullenly. 

 "Anyway," Eponine continued, "Your father received letters from a number of people at the port, including Commodore Norrington, all saying that the Black Pearl was spotted sailing near port, and one person even said that they saw her _in _the port, right outside of town! Now isn't that just a wonder of a coincidence? The very ship you were held captive at appears at Port Royal right after you left… Or maybe even before!"

 "And you're sure these were all from reliable sources?" Elizabeth asked, all thoughts of Will suddenly drained from her mind. "You're sure none of them could have been lying?"

 "Well, I highly doubt that Commodore Norrington would lie about such a grave situation, if you don't mind my saying." Eponine said.

 "Yes, but-" Elizabeth pushed, but Eponine just shook her head and stood up. 

"I do think you should be getting ready for supper, Mrs. Turner." She said in a way that seemed to read 'drop it and don't ask me anymore questions'. "I've already laid your dress out for you, and Lisa and Meryle are already inside, waiting to help you into it. I bid you a good evening, Mrs. Turner." 

 And with that, Eponine strode out of the room.

Elizabeth's stomach sank as she thought back on their conversation. Of course Norrington wasn't lying, but why on earth would the Black Pearl have been doing around Port Royal… 

 "Of course!" She exclaimed, before immediately shutting her mouth, hoping no one had heard her. Of course the Black Pearl would have been at port, if Jack had heard about their wedding! He had probably just gotten the date wrong, that was all. Why had she been so worried over something like that? It wasn't as if Barbossa was about to show up at her doorstep anytime soon. 

 Mentally chiding herself for jumping to conclusions, Elizabeth stood up and walked into her room to get ready for supper. About half an hour later, once she was bound in her navy blue velvet number and her hair had been re-piled up onto her head, she slowly strode out onto deck and headed towards the dining room. As she walked across the deck, she noticed most of the crew were rushing around excitedly about something or other. Following a pointing sailor's gaze, Elizabeth spotted a ship heading towards them.

 "Elizabeth!" A voice came from behind her. She turned around to see her father rushing towards her. 

 "What is going on?" she asked curiously. "Whose ship is that?"

 "It's merely one of my merchant ships coming to greet us." Her father explained. "But this particular ship has come straight from Port Royal, and will no doubt be bringing letters."

 Elizabeth smiled excitedly and started over to the rail to get a closer look, but her father stopped her.

 "They won't be here for a while, nor will they go anywhere." He assured her. "But it's time for supper, dear. A ship's deck in this excitement is no place for a young woman, married or not."

 After a rather hurried supper, Elizabeth had rushed out onto deck as soon and as fast as she could in her tight dress. The stars were shining brilliantly, and the torches about the deck illuminated the smiling faces of all the sailors. On the other side of the ship, the merchant ship (which Elizabeth had learned was called the Ebony rose) had tied up to the deck and several sailors were boarding their own ship, carrying boxes and cases of all sorts.

 "Elizabeth dear!" her father motioned her to join him. A stern looking man with an extremely bushy black moustache stood beside him.

 "This is Jeremy Smith, captain of the Ebony Rose." Jeremy bowed deeply as he took Elizabeth's hand and politely kissed it.

 "A pleasure to finally meet you, Mrs. Turner." He said in a deep, booming voice.

 "As it is to meet you." Elizabeth replied politely. 

 "As I was saying, Governor." He said, turning towards her father. "There have been quite a few letters sent from Port Royal, all of which we're more than happy to deliver." As if on cue, a young sailor appeared beside him, carrying a large package.

 Her father readily took the package. "Ah, here you are Elizabeth. Just as I suspected, most of them are for you."  He said, handing her a stack of letters before studying an official looking letter addressed to him. "And the only letter for me seems to be from… Norrington."

                                                                                      *                        *                      *

 Mia sighed as she stared out the tiny window, watching the waves slowly rise and fall. Her sickness had subsided a while ago, leaving her merely bored and angry. The past three weeks Jack would simply some in every once and a while with food and provisions, but had made a point of avoiding her as much as possible. Mia almost wished he was in here bugging her, at least she wouldn't be so lonely.

 Mia sighed again as she realised she was daydreaming. Again. Or maybe she was really dreaming, she could hear angels singing… the moonlight streamed through the window, giving Mia the impression that she was in heaven, away from this bloody little place and away from Jack...

 "Small craft in a harbour, that's still and serene…." The angel sang. "Gives no indication what their ways have been. They rock at their moorings all nestled in dreams, away from the roll of the sea…."

 Mia absent-mindedly began to hum along to the tune, before she realised that she was really _hearing _the words being sung, she wasn't imagining them. She sat up and strained her ears to catch more of the song.

 "Their stern lines are groaning, a lullaby air…" the voice sang, adding a dramatic flourish to the end of 'air', in a way Mia had only heard once before. It was Kris!

 "Sparrow!" Kris's voice was muffled by the heavy wooden door, and Mia sprang up and rushed towards it so she could hear better. "Where did you say that case was?"

 "In my cabin!" Jack's reply sounded faint to Mia, as if he was in another room. 

 "I know that!" Kris replied. "Where in your cabin?" But she got no answer.

"Fine then, don't answer me!" Kris yelled jokingly. Mia heard her turn a key in the lock, and heard her creak open the door…

 "If it's not in here I'll have to…" Kris trailed off as she saw Mia standing in front of her.

"What the hell…" she said, disbelieving. "Mia?"

 "Kris!" Mia flung her arms around her confused cousin's waist, overjoyed to see a face other than Jack's. "Oh, Kris, it's been so horrible…"

 "What are you doing here?" Kris said, still looking confused. "I though I left you in Trawe…"

"You did, but I was mad that you were leaving again and wouldn't let me come with you so I stowed away under a rower and then Jack found me and locked me up in here and then you came and then-" 

 "Hold up a second." Kris said, struggling out of a nearly hysterical Mia's arms. "He kept you here? For how long?"

 "Three weeks!" Mia exclaimed. "But at least he didn't kill me because I know that's what pirates usually do to stowaways but really I have no clue why he didn't because-"

 "Calm down!" Kris exclaimed. "So you're saying that Jack kept you in here for three weeks without any food or water?"

 "No, he brought me everything, including-" Mia motioned to her outfit, "-your clothes."

"But why the hell would he-"

"Oh Kriiiiiiiiis! Have you found the-" Jack casually strode into the room, the smile vanishing from his face as he saw Kris and Mia glaring at him. "This can't be good."

 "You have no idea." Mia replied, eyeing the acidy look on Kris's face. For a moment, the three of them stood in a heavy silence. Kris stared angrily at Jack, Jack looked as if he had seen a ghost, and Mia stood in between them, watching each of their faces and trying not to think of the headache she was sure to get when this was all finished.

 "You." Kris said finally, pointing towards Mia but not taking her eyes away from Jack. Her voice sounded hollow, as if she was speaking from a different body. "Mia, go to my cabin."

 "But…" Mia started, but immediately though better of it and walked out of the room, shooting an almost sympathetic look in Jack's direction as she walked past him.

 "Kris, I can-" Jack started, but Kris immediately cut him off.

 "You!" she screamed. "I don't even want to _think _about you! Just-just- GET OUT!!" And with that she stormed out of the room and out onto the dark and deserted deck.

 Jack was close behind her as she walked out onto the deck, having to trot to keep up with her quick strides. "Kris, Kristalle… Really, I can explain, it's not what it seems…"

 "I don't care what it seems to be!" Kris yelled, turning around to face him. "I don't _care _what you were or weren't planning on doing, I don't care why you did it!!"

 "Then why-" Jack started, only to be cut off.

"You _lied _to me, Jack!" she yelled, her eyes flashing dangerously. "You kept my cousin in some, some sitting room for three weeks right under my nose and did you even think to tell me? Did it even occur to you that I might care that she was locked up for weeks on end?"

 "Well yes, but-"

 "But what? You didn't want to tell me? You thought it'd be fun to see how long you could hide a fourteen year old girl in your cabin without my knowing?! Tell me, Jack, when were you planning on telling me? No, tell me why you didn't tell me! Why the hell would you bring me onto this ship only to _lock girls in your cabin_?! Why didn't you just leave me on that hell-hole of an island if you weren't planning on even telling me my own cousin was on the ship?"

 "Because-"

"Because what, huh? Because you thought I would wait on you for the rest of your life? Because you wanted more females other than Anna-Maria around to use?"

 "Because." Jack said, looking utterly defeated. "Because I love you." 

 Kris's anger immediately lessened. All emotion drained from her body as soon as the meaning of what he said sunk in, those single words changing her mood dramatically. He'd never said that to her before. Sure, she had known it already, as actions had always proved stronger than words (and there had been plenty of actions), but to hear him actually say it literally made her heart melt. The moonlight illuminated his kohl lined eyes, which stared down at her intently, almost sadly. She had never wanted him more than she did at that moment, she had never wanted to hold him or to talk to him or to feel his heartbeat more than she did now… It was taking all of her will power to simply to keep a straight face, to fight off the urge to throw her arms around him and kiss him…

 "There's no such thing as love, Sparrow." She said coldly, finally snapping out of her dream-like state and back into reality. It hurt her beyond imagining to say these words, but she had to let him know how she felt, how seriously angry she was at him. She couldn't just let him off the hook because of a few simple words… She turned away to hide the tears forming in her eyes and briskly walked back to her cabin, leaving Jack staring after her.

                                                                                                   *                  *                 *

 Once Captain Smith had found out what the letter from Norrington contained, the fact that Will had gone missing and the direction the Black Pearl was heading in once she left Port Royal, he had easily put two and two together. And this gem of a situation was the perfect chance for Smith to get back at an old nemesis. For Jeremy Smith was not what he seemed to be, an honest merchant with an odd line of work, no, he wasn't anything near that. And as Jack stood wistfully watching Kris break his heart and leave, he had no idea that the Ebony Rose was swiftly approaching his ship…


	8. Secrets, Guilt and Celebration

**Author's note: **Yay! I'm making some real progress with this story here. And yes, don't worry, it's all leading up to something. I promise. The only bad thing is that I haven't been writing in any of my other stories, something that's upsetting anyone who actually reads them. Meh, oh well. Oh, and by the way, Katrina is based (loosely) on my good friend Roz! Enjoy!

 Oh yes. I did not write 'away from the roll of the sea', and though I do not know who did, I know the song through choir.

Long chapter, I know. Please bear with me. 

 ~Kris 

**Chapter 8**

"He's gone." Kris said as she faced Will, disbelieving. "Are you sure?"

"He's not anywhere on the ship!" Will exclaimed, agitatedly pacing the floor of Kris's cabin. It was cramped, but at least she didn't have to share it with anyone. Not that she spent all that much time in her own cabin, anyway.

 "You checked absolutely _everywhere_?" Kris pushed. "You're sure Jack's nowhere on this ship?"

"Yes!" Will replied. "I've told you, we can't find him anywhere!" 

 Kris's stomach sank as she realised he was telling the truth. And since Will was telling the truth that meant that it was her fault Jack left. Why had she over reacted so much, if she had only been more understanding then he wouldn't have gone…

 "Do you know where he is?" Will asked suspiciously after Kris had been silent for a moment. 

 "Don't you think I'd tell you if I did?!" Kris exclaimed, standing up from her perch on the small windowsill. "Don't think you're the only one who gives a damn that he's run off, Turner."

 "How do you know he's run off?" Will asked.

 "Where else do you think he is? You yourself said that one of the rowers was missing." Though, of course, it had never occurred to either of them that Jack may have moved the rower Mia was hiding under. "If you know anything else, feel free to tell me."

 "I already have told you all I know." Will replied, looking worried. 

 Kris immediately felt guilty for being so harsh with him. It wasn't Will's fault, he shouldn't have to bear all of her guilt as well. 

Just then Mia strode into the room, rubbing sleep from her eyes and yawning. "Isn't it a little early to be holding debates?" she asked tiredly. "My cabin's just next door, the least you could do is keep it down a little."

 "Sorry. By the way, Jack's left." Kris said, before briskly walking past Mia out onto the deck. What she needed was time to think, and at this hour of the morning she doubted anyone would be around to keep her from it… And she had made a vow, long ago, after her family died and she was left with her uncle, that she would never let anyone see her cry.

                                                                                              *            *           *

 Smith hadn't bothered to disturb anyone else on the Black Pearl, for though he wanted to hurt anyone connected with Jack Sparrow, he wanted to get back at Jack even more. And just as luck would have it, Jack was alone on the deck, obviously distracted by something and completely unaware of their arrival. Of course, he had put up a fight (this was Jack Sparrow we're talking about here) but once Jeremy and his crew had outnumbered and captured him, he seemed almost willing to go. Crestfallen.

  Smith studied the cut across his left wrist, the only mark from his short battle with Jack. He frowned as he remembered that this wasn't the only scar Jack had caused, as he sported a number of slashes across his chest and torso from a rather embarrassing past battle. Jack had always been able to beat Smith in a good fight, or at least leave a few nasty scars. He was much better than Smith with a sword. And a gun. And a ship. Actually, all of Smith's life he had spent in Jack Sparrow's shadow, always being second best, never succeeding in finding something he was better than Jack in. Even the women seemed to prefer Jack to him, something he had never been able to figure out, because while Smith was for the most part clean-shaven and even considered handsome by some, Jack had always seemed so, so, _filthy_. And rude and vulgar… Smith had never understood that attraction woman had to Jack. 

 Actually, Smith couldn't figure out how _anyone _could like his brother.

 It made him cringe to think that he was actually related to this man, that though they both came from different fathers, they shared the same mother. His only comfort was in the fact that they were only half brothers. Their mother, Morgan, god bless her soul, had been married twice. Once Jack's father had died, she had remarried to a man named David Smith, and had Jeremy. He and Jack were 5 years apart, and as far as Smith was concerned, couldn't be more different. 

 But now Jack was safely locked in the cell of the Ebony rose, unable to do any more harm to the world. Smith tried not to think himself a hero, but he couldn't help being pleased with himself all the same. He'd never really held a grudge against pirates, but seeing Jack hung at the noose would definitely calm his mind. After all, if it wasn't for Jack and his bloody knack for getting into trouble, their mother would still be alive…

                                                                                                *               *             *

 Since Jack had left, Kris had been elected captain of the Black Pearl. Actually, every member of the crew other than herself and Anna-Maria (who had both nominated Gibbs) had voted for her.

 They kept to Jack's original game plan. They headed towards Mexico to steal this map they needed (Jack had told only Kris and Gibbs of its whereabouts), but first they had stopped at a small island just off the coast of Mexico to pick up Bill and Brett. Though Kris was absolutely overjoyed to see them, she almost felt as if she shouldn't be. For some reason, Kris felt that she would have had more of a right to be happy to see them if they had been reunited at a funeral. 

 It had been just over a week since Jack had left when they reached Mexico. Roping their ship at the port, Kris, Gibbs, Bill, Brett and Mia (Kris hadn't quite felt comfortable leaving her with the rest of the crew) met in a shabby pub to discuss their plans.

 "He said that we could easily sneak into the mansion disguised as musicians." Gibbs explained quietly, referring to Jack. It was apparent that the matter of their former captain was still a tender issue with Kris, and simply out of courtesy Gibbs had taken to not saying his name around her. 

 "Whose mansion is this again?" Brett asked.

  "An aristocrat's." Kris replied. "At least, that's all he had said about it. The map's supposed to be in an office on the second floor, it won't be hard to find."

 Every word she said was business-like, but Mia could see that there obviously was something bothering Kris. She wasn't brooding or sulking, she didn't seem angry at all. Kris seemed almost… guilty. Mia knew that although what had happened that night was completely in her favour (Jack _was_ gone, after all), it was really taking a toll on the closest thing to a sister she had ever had.

 "This sounds almost too easy." Bill commented. "I mean, we sneak into this party as musicians and just walk out with a map? It's way too perfect."

 "Aren't you guys forgetting something?" Mia started.

 "Shh, not now Mia." Kris interrupted. "Now, tomorrow's the only time we can get in, so we'd better not mess this up-"

 "People!" Mia said, louder this time. "This is important!"

 Kris sighed. "What, Mia."

 "Well, you guys are sneaking in as musicians, right?" Mia started. "Don't you have to know how to play an instrument to be a musician?"

 Kris and Gibbs looked at each other. 

"Good point." Gibbs said finally.

 "Me and Brett could pretend to play the fiddle." Bill offered. "I can play a bit, and Brett can just fake it. If all goes well, we won't actually have to play, right?"

 "True." Kris said. "And Gibbs can be our conductor, that doesn't take much talent."

 "That only leaves one small matter." Gibbs said.

 "What matter is that?" Brett asked.

 "Kris." Gibbs replied. "As far as I know, you don't play a thing."

 "I don't." Kris admitted. 

 "She could sing." Mia suggested.

 "No I couldn't." Kris said immediately. As far as she knew, Jack and Mia were the only two people who had heard her sing. Though her mother had been a performer before she died, Kris was always self conscious of her voice, at least when she was sober.

 "You could!" Bill exclaimed. "I've heard you, you have an amazing voice."

 "But-" Kris started.

 "Then it's settled." Gibbs said. "Kris will sing."

Kris shook her head and took a sip of her drink. If it meant they would actually get something out of this in the end (namely, treasure, and lots of it) then she would just have to suck it up and do it. 

                                                                                        *                      *                    *

 Jack lay in his cell staring at the ceiling. The floor of the cell was covered in water, but at the moment he would rather be wet than standing. The soft sound of the ocean spray and the groaning of the ship's hull created a calming lullaby, the moonlight streaming through a small knot hole in the planks was his only light. He knew his brother would try and do something to him, but he never knew he'd do this…

 Jack wondered how long it would take to get to wherever they were going. His thoughts were constantly wandering from one memory to another, it was pretty much the only thing he could do. He was always thinking his ship, how the crew was holding, if his plan had worked and if they had even decided to carry it out. He tried not to think of Kris, for after dwelling upon the memory of the night she had left him, he had decided he didn't want to go back. He decided that if he never saw her face again, the pain would go away.

 The sound of heavy footsteps thumping down the wooden steps leading into the bilge jarred Jack from his thoughts. Closing his eyes, he pretended to be asleep as his brother approached the cell.

 "You're not asleep Sparrow, I know you aren't." Smith jeered through the rusty bars. 

Jack gave an exasperated sigh and opened his eyes. "Go away, Jeremy." 

 "This is no time for being immature, Sparrow." Smith replied. 

 "Why must you always call me that, Jeremy?" Jack replied. "We _are_ brothers, mate. Better get over it."

 "We may be by blood, but you were never my brother. Not since you killed my mother." 

 "I would never have hurt her, Jeremy. You bloody well know that."

 "I'll just let you think on that." Jeremy replied, leaning his face closer to the bars so his face was illuminated by the small bit of moonlight leaking from outside. "While you're hanging from a noose. Escape is impossible; I hope you take that into consideration before doing anything rash." And, satisfied with Jack's reaction, Smith walked away from the cell and up the steps. 

 "It's not as if I have anywhere to escape to." Jack muttered.

                                                                                        *                 *                *

Kris felt vaguely uncomfortable as they walked through the open gates towards the manner they were to rob. But not so much about the fact they were going to steal something, no, her discomfort was mostly due to the long, deep red dress she wore. Before they had left, she had asked Will to keep an eye out for Mia. She'd gotten the feeling that Will was the only person on the ship who understood her need to watch out for the people you cared for. She had become quite fond of him in the past while, not in the way you would think of someone as a lover, but the way you would be fond of a brother. Though they hadn't had many conversations since Jack had left, and they'd barely said a word to each other before, there was an understanding between them, an understanding she knew she would never figure out…

 The house loomed over them as they approached it; a statue of an angel resting on the top of a grand fountain looked down at them in what one could almost make out as disapproval. 

 "Names?" the man at the door asked as Kris, Gibbs, Bill and Brett approached him, not bothering to look up from his list. 

 "We need no names." Brett replied, holding up his violin. "We're the entertainment."

 "Finally!" the man said, dropping his formal manner. "You'd better get in there; Katrina's been having a fit all night!"

 "We'll hurry then." Kris said, smiling and leading the others inside. "Wouldn't want to keep Katrina waiting."

 "Whoever she is." Bill added quietly as they stepped through the large oak doors.

Inside was truly a sight. Calvin and Brianna Westly, a count and countess, not to mention the owners of the mansion, were having a banquet to celebrate their daughter's sixteenth birthday. The ballroom alone could have easily fit their ship inside with room to spare, and there were breath taking tapestries and paintings adorning the walls. And in every nook and cranny rested beautiful candles, all in the same shade of light pink. The four pirates stood just inside the ballroom, speechless and not quite knowing what to do.

 "There you are!" a voice came from behind them. Kris turned around to see a young woman, about her age, rushing towards them. She was quite interesting to look at, with eyes such a dark shade of blue that they could have been violet and her dark brown hair tied back into a braid that hung down to her waist. Her dress was of a beautiful black silk and seemed very formal, but not quite as formal as the outfits all the guests were adorning. 

 "You're an hour late!" the woman exclaimed. She quickly looked each of them up and down, stopping at Kris. "I'm guessing you're Scarlet. And I don't know why you brought your own conductor; you only have to sing for two songs. And why do you have two violinists? I though you were bringing your flute player instead."

 "Oh, we were, but he came down with a terrible cold." Kris explained. "Couldn't even breathe properly, let alone play."

 "Too bad." She said quickly. "By the way, I'm Katrina, I run the band. Now come on, you have to rehearse with the orchestra at least once before we play." 

 They followed Katrina back to the entry way and through a door they had not even noticed was there; it was painted the exact shade the walls were and seemed to blend in with its surroundings. As soon as Katrina pushed open the door, a rush of sound escaped. Inside were dozens of musicians, all tuning their instruments, playing bits of songs and talking excitedly. Kris had never felt insecure about much, and was usually at home within the midst of a crowd, but for the first time she felt overwhelmed by the amount of talented people she was expected to fit right in with.  

 "They're finally here!" Katrina announced as she led them inside. She picked up a few black folders and handed them to each of the 'musicians'. "Here, we're all supposed to have the same portfolios. And we only need one more violinist, one of you won't play. So I suppose it's just you, Scarlet, and one of you two." She gave a slight motion of the hand towards Bill and Brett. 

 Before any of them could reply, Katrina was heading into the midst of the crowd, quickly disappearing within all of the people. The way they moved about somehow made it seem as if there were hundreds of people in the room, instead of the roughly estimated twenty. They reminded Kris of a school of fish, each carrying out their own responsibilities while creating such a large dance of life…

 "Scarlet!" Gibbs said, motioning for her to come closer. "Now, while you're on stage Brett and I will sneak upstairs and get that map. You'll be all right?"

 "Of course." Kris gave a weak smile. "I'll be fine. You just worry yourself in not getting caught, especially since Brett's accompanying you."

 Gibbs nodded and smiled before heading out of the room with Brett, no doubt straight to the buffet they had spotted in a dining room just outside of the ballroom. Kris sighed and opened her folder to see what song she'd have to learn. She gave a relieved smile when she saw that the first song was a simple Latin song she had learned when she was a child. She quickly skimmed through the words, just to be sure, before removing that paper to see what the other song might be. A lump caught in her throat as she read the title, realising this was the song she'd known for even longer than the Latin one, the song her mother had sang to her and she had sang to Jack night after night… Away From the Roll of the Sea. Surely the fates had something against her, bringing up the memories she had just managed to forget…

 "Are you alright?" A voice came from behind her. Kris turned around to see Katrina peering over her shoulder, her eyes that had obviously reading the words of the song that had upset Kris so much now looking up at her with a soft glimmer of worry. "You're not feeling unwell, are you?"

 It took Kris a moment to clear her throat enough to speak. "I'm fine, really. It's just…Stage fright."

_ Stage fright? Since when do musicians get stage fright before playing at a birthday party? _

But Katrina didn't seem to notice the strangeness of Kris's answer. She just nodded knowingly and smiled warmly. "I'm sure everyone goes through that at one time or another."

 Now it was Kris's turn to nod in agreement. In any other situation similar to this, she would have felt awkward, but for some reason she felt comfortable around Katrina. "It's funny how we can manage to find ways through the worst of situations, yet we still get worked up over the smallest things. Really, women even confuse me, and I'm one of them. I pity men."

 Katrina laughed. "You remind me of someone, Scarlet." She said. "I grew up with someone just like you. It's strange; you even look like her…"

 Katrina was interrupted by a young man with thick, sandy hair and muddy brown eyes. "Katrina! The countess requests that the band strike a song quickly, some of the guests are getting bored."

 Katrina turned to Kris. "You'll have to excuse me, Scarlet, the countess is not one for waiting long."

 "Neither's her daughter." The young man behind her pointed out. "Spoiled brat, she is. Can't wait until she's off married to some aristocrat in another country."

 Katrina laughed. "The sad thing is, it's true. Scarlet, you might find a glass of ale helpful to settle your stomach and head. A spoonful of sugar will help the bubbles settle, so you won't have to worry about your voice."

 Kris grinned. "Thanks, I will. Break a leg."

 Katrina laughed and clapped her hands excitedly. "Alright boys, you heard the lady! Let's break a leg out there, or at least fracture something."

 The musicians gave a cheer before quietly heading out the door with their instruments, being cautious not to let an edge of a viola or a flute case bang against the doorway, as it was bad form for musicians to disturb the guests. They were meant to be background music; nothing more. 

 But about a half hour later, once Kris had reunited with Gibbs and Brett (whom Kris had been right to suspect that they might have been at the buffet, due to the obviously messy eating habits both possessed) and headed out into the midst of the gigantic ballroom, they found out that background music was not the only thing on the agenda of Katrina. For she was not only the organised leader of the musicians, but a violinist, as well. 

 After about an hour of the usual _Vienna Waltz_ and other overplayed pieces, Katrina had stepped forward with her violin in front of the crowd. The crowd's chatter had lowered itself to a quiet buzz, as it was apparent something important was to happen (aristocrats may be a little slow, but they weren't _that _slow). After a few moments of almost complete silence, Katrina started playing.

 For the majority of the crowd, it was a completely new and unheard piece, but it wasn't all that new to Kris and the others. It was a common tune, most often heard in taverns and accompanied with vulgar lyrics, but it was devilishly difficult to play. The lively, almost harsh notes her violin produced had snapped the crowd out of its quiet state and onto the dance floor. Her arm moved furiously as she played, her eyes closed in deep concentration. After a minute or two of her sole violin casting its almost sad notes across the crowd, the other three violinists joined in, and before long the band was sending deafening waves of music throughout the room. Kris would have never expected something so lively from a bunch like this, but there was a lot about Katrina she would have been surprised to find out. Suddenly, almost too quickly, the music stopped. 

 Kris, Brett and Gibbs were not the only people applauding as Katrina took a curt bow and stepped back to where the other musicians stood. She slightly motioned for Kris to step up onto the platform as she did this, smiling reassuringly. 

 Kris did as she was told and climbed the few steps up onto the stage, concentrating on keeping her breathing steady. She gave a slight nod to Gibbs and Brett, signalling them to head up to the second floor. She took a deep breath and, fixing her gaze upon what were obviously the countess and her daughter, began to sing.

 "Angelus cantare per foris ad nox…" she sang, the slow, pure notes echoing through the room. It was a blessing, really, and was not all that unusual to hear at a birthday party. Once she was finished, Kris was relieved beyond belief and confident that she could do it again. Her confidence was given an added boost once she saw Gibbs and Brett re-enter the room, both smiling. The band started playing again, and Kris waited until the proper time for her to come in.

 "Small craft in the harbour…" 

 "Oh mother, look!" the countess's daughter exclaimed excitedly, motioning up towards the stage. "It's our song! They're playing our song, mother…" her excitement was drowned out in the sound of the music. It was true; this was the song her beloved sang to her…

 They finished, and relieved that this whole ordeal was finished with; Kris got off the stage and walked out of the room, having to search the wall of the entry way for a moment before finding the door to the room the musicians had been in. 

 "You got the map?" she asked excitedly, rushing towards Gibbs and Brett.

 "Are crows black?" Brett replied, producing a rather crumpled piece of paper from the pocket of his breeches. "Now if you don't mind, it'd be a relief to get back to the ship…"

 Moments later, after playing one last song, the band came bustling back into the room, Katrina taking up the rear.

 "Oh, Scarlet!" she exclaimed, rushing towards them. "That was wonderful! You all were!" she threw open her arms as she shouted to the musicians, laughing. "Of course, this calls for a celebration! It's not everyday one gets a paying gig at such a grand place as this."

 The small crowd cheered, all pumped with adrenaline from playing on stage and happy that the whole occasion was a success.

 "Surely you'll be joining us?" Katrina said to Kris, Gibbs, Bill and Brett. 

 Kris looked at Gibbs and smiled. "Why not? This is an occasion in need of a celebration, after all."

                                                                                              *                     *                  *

So, while Jack was laying on the floor of his leaking cell, Elizabeth was thinking of Will, who was also thinking of her (about as much as one could while trying to teach a cocky fourteen year old how to fence) and Kris was watching Katrina dancing on a table with one of the other musicians (though it was funny, she hadn't seen Katrina touch a drink all night), the rest of the world went on without any knowledge of the secrets their neighbours held. Smith's secret brother, Mia's secret longing to be home and Kris's not-so-secret guilt. But it was really no secret that not a single musician, real or not, would be up early the next morning.


	9. And the plot thickens

Author's note: Craptacular chapter, I know. I'm just setting up for the more exciting parts… sorry excuse, I know… 

Jeyke: Thanks for all the wonderful comments! And yes, you're right about the execution bit… believe me, I'm not the least bit mad! Actually, I kinda laughed when I realised what I stupid mistake that was! And yes, Mia is evil…

Jessica Sarrow and InsertRandomInsanityHere: Glad you guys like it!!

Roz: Wheee you're in this!! Lol yes…I love the review part too… A lot of threads, but it'll all come together soon! I promise!! Too much like you… hehe… hey I'd be dancing with the musicians too! But I'd probably fall off the table… lol! No prob bout putting you in… its not a book without roz, right? (ok ok I'm a little strange… O.o)  well thanks peoples for all the reviews!

Lol yes… I'll be quiet now and let you read the chapter…. Better ones coming…

**Chapter 9**

****

Kris groaned as she awoke, turning over in the afternoon sunlight and promptly falling off of the bed, landing with a painful _thump _on the hard wooden planks of the floor. God dammit… and good morning to you too, fate… 

 She struggled to her feet and made to get dressed, before realising she had fallen asleep in her clothes. She shrugged that little tidbit of information off and tiredly strode out onto the deck, only to see something so surprising it immediately shook her from her tired sate. 

 "No, no, Mia, _never _take your eyes off of your opponent!" Will said as he knocked the blade out of Mia's hand.

 "Ok, ok!" Mia replied, picking her sword up off of the floor. She shifted her weight from foot to foot as she pointed her sword at Will. 

 "Alright, good." Will said, and with an effortless flick of the wrist, he crossed his blade with Mia's and began to circle her, but quite slowly, mind you. "Now, always be sure to follow your opponent's footing…"

 "Good morning." Kris said unenthusiastically as she walked towards them.

 "Look who finally woke up." Mia said, giving Kris the first genuine smile she had seen from her in a long time. "Have a late night, did you? You look like you have a killer hangover. From what you said yesterday, we should have been miles away from port hours ago…"

 Brett came skidding up beside them, apparently out of breath. _God, could this morning get any more hectic?_ Kris though miserably._ I should just go back to bed…_

 "Kris, there's someone down at the dock who'd like to see you." He said. "Seems to want to buy a passage to the nearest island on our boat…"

 "Tell them we're not a common ferry and we won't be accepting passengers."  Kris replied, rubbing her temples. What a headache… 

 "I think this is someone you'd be interested in, Kris." Brett said. "The least you could do is go down and see her before you make your decision."

 Kris shook her head miserably and walked over to the rail, peering down over the side to see whoever was waiting for her on the dock. She tiredly looked around for a moment before spotting a slightly familiar head of long, chestnut hair.

 "Katrina!" she yelled, squinting to try and see if it really was her. "Is that you?"

The woman standing on the dock looked around to see who had called her name. She looked up to face Kris, and she saw it was indeed the violinist from the night before.

 "Hello Scarlet!" Katrina said cheerfully. "What are you doing here?"

 Kris climbed down the rope ladder leading down from the ship and landed with a heavy thud on the dock. "Actually, I'm not Scarlet."

 Katrina's eyes narrowed in confusion. "But… You have to be, I just saw you last night…"

 Kris couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, you did see me last night, but I'm not Scarlet." She held out her hand for Katrina. "The name's Kris, Captain Kris. So what's this I hear about you wanting a passage on me ship?"

 Katrina's smile vanished and she looked nervously over her shoulder. "Well, um, Kris, it's not that I want a passage, it's just that I need one."

 "And what might the circumstances for your _needing_ a passage be?"

 "I'm afraid I won't be able to say."

 "Ah, 'tis one of _those _situations." Kris replied, smirking. "So you expect me to let you onto my ship without you even telling me why?"

 Katrina nodded.

"And you're aware of… uh…" Kris searched for the right way to word what she was trying to say. "Our line of business?"

 Katrina stared at Kris for a moment, confused. Then, as if seeing everything for the first time, she realised what Kris was talking about. Her strange clothes and unorthodox manner, the crew's sketchiness, the ship's black sails…

 "I do now."  She said. "You're… you're pirates."

 "Aye." Kris grinned. "But kindly don't go spreading it around, if this place is anything like the rest of the world, the people won't take kindly to knowing that. And now that you know, Katrina, I'm guessing I'll _have _to take you along."

 Katrina didn't seem to know how to answer. Finally, she slung the worn rucksack off her shoulder and reached inside, producing a small yet lumpy pouch. 

 "Of course, I can pay you." She said, opening the pouch to reveal a very fine amount of gold coins. Too fine, in fact, for a passage on a simple pirate's ship, or even a passage on a grander one. But as said before, Kristalle Maria Kayte was never one to complain much, so the unusual amount of said coins went unmentioned. 

 "It is enough, isn't it?" Katrina said, suddenly looking worried. If she couldn't get out of this town quickly enough, she had no idea what she would do…

 "Of course." Kris said with a smile, before stepping aside and motioning towards the worn rope ladder leading up towards the ship. "You, Katrina, are most welcome upon the decks of the Black Pearl."

* * *

(One week later)

 Jack had been pacing the length of the cell for the past hour. He had learned from experience not to let yourself get too out of shape while imprisoned, for one might miss the opportune moment of escape. And besides, it gave him something to do other than reminisce and think up unsuccessful escape plans. 

 Everything he had thought up of hadn't even come close to working. His current scheme, a hunger strike, somehow didn't seem to hold much of a future for escape, not only because the single guard placed outside of his cell was constantly sleeping and wouldn't notice, but because he knew his brother wouldn't care if he keeled over from lack of food. But still, it was worth a try, wasn't it? 

 As Jack absent-mindedly continued to pace the length of his cell, he had no idea of the ship that had sided up against the Ebony Rose the week before or the current commotion on the deck above them. That is, he had no idea until two men burst into the bilge, awakening the guard and towing a struggling woman between them. Though she certainly wasn't a very big thing, she was kicking and thrashing so violently that the two men were obviously having a difficult time keeping her within their grasp. 

 "Let-me-GO!!!" she screamed, giving a kick so hard it sent the formerly sleeping guard jumping back a few feet. Her long blonde hair flew wildly around her pale face, and what had obviously once been a ravishing deep violet gown was now torn from the amount of her struggling. "Let me go you cheap excuses for navy officers! Do you have any bloody idea who I am?! I'll have you know that I'm-"

 "Oh, we know who you are, Missy." One of the men said, trying to sound cocky despite the obvious hell-cat he was holding onto. The guard unlocked the cell and with an amount of effort, the two men roughly threw the woman into the cell. 

 "You're Lady Delia Defaulo." The man continued, standing up straight and nursing an injured arm as the guard locked the cell once again (due to the commotion, Jack hadn't taken up that particular chance of escape. Besides, all he'd escape to were three navy officers). 

 "And a bloody stinkin' double crosser." The other guard added, straightening his jacket. "Now if you'll excuse us, _Lady_ Delia, we have business to attend to up on the deck. Enjoy your stay."

  The woman scowled at them as they stomped back up the steps and out of the bilge. The guard promptly seated himself back in his chair and leaned his head back, no doubt with the intentions of falling back asleep.

 Jack studied his new cell-mate with great interest. Besides the murderous expression on her face, she really was pretty. Her pale blonde hair perfectly framed her delicate looking face, which was adorned with emerald eyes and soft looking lips the color of coral. He had been right to guess that her dress was grand, as up close it appeared to be made out of silk with delicate looking layers of black lace. And, he couldn't help noting, suited her slender body and curves perfectly.

 "Bloody no good navy pawns." She grumbled. 

 "Aye, they get in the way of everything, don't they?" Jack said finally. The woman looked up, startled, as she noticed Jack for the first time. "The name's Jack Sparrow, Captain if you please. And I'm guessing you're Delia?"

 The woman nodded and flashed a dazzling smile. "Yes, I'm Delia Defaulo. Pleased to meet you, Captain Sparrow." 

 Though she obviously hadn't heard of him, Jack's ego was slightly inflated by the way she had emphasised 'captain'. "And what's a pretty little lass like you doing in a jail cell, hmm?" 

  Delia's smile immediately faded at Jack's rather forward comment. "I could ask the same of you, _Captain_, though I wouldn't exactly call you pretty."

 _Touchy._Jack thought. "No reason in particular, Luv, other than me being on the Account and the captain of this little rowboat having it out to get me." 

 "Interesting." Delia replied. Her expression was far from readable, nor was her tone.

"And you?"  Jack pushed.

 "Well, if you really must know…" Delia said, cockily jutting out her hip and placing her hand on her waist, "I was thrown in here for trying to kill someone. I was engaged to Jeremy Smith, and-"

 "He's engaged?!" Jack exclaimed. "And he didn't tell me! So let me guess, Luv, you tired of him and decided to slit his throat in his sleep?"

  Delia looked both surprised and cross at Jack's unusual outburst. "I'm afraid not, I still haven't tired of Jeremy. It was a woman's throat I tried to slit, the only real passenger on this ship, for sleeping with him."

 Jack grinned. _Guess fatal attraction runs in the blood. _"So you say you're still engaged to him?"

 "Yes."

 "But I'm sure you don't love him for locking you up in this cell, Luv, am I right?" he said suggestively. 

 Delia frowned. She looked cute when she frowned. "_Yes_, sir, I still love him! He's only doing what's right by law, and I highly doubt that he'll have me executed along with the likes of you. And if it's reasonable expectations on your mind, _captain_, I suggest you look elsewhere." 

 It was Jack's turn to frown. Not only was she touchy, but she was nasty, too. And that was the exact moment he had given up on any 'reasonable expectations' that had been on his mind, at least for the time being. After all, he didn't want to die before he reached the noose, especially not to the likes of Delia.  

* * *

 Kris had quickly found someone other than Mia to listen to her stories. Katrina turned out to be a self-proclaimed lover of literature, and since there were hardly any books on the ship (other than a cook-book and weaponry book, there really was no need for them as most of the crew couldn't read and didn't plan on learning) she had readily listened to all of Kris's stories, true or not. She told her about fighting Captain Hubbs and stowing away on her first pirate ship, she told of how her uncle had taught her how to steal properly and fight 'the real way' (his motto being 'a fair fight is one where you win without killing yourself') and in turn, Katrina would describe all the manors she had played in and all the places she had travelled. And, eventually, Kris came to the time on her great story timeline where she met Jack.

 She was absent-mindedly steering the Pearl into the horizon, heading towards Cementerio Del Angel ('the angel's graveyard', a small island) while talking to Katrina.

 "And after me ship sank, well, that's when I came into contact with this one, about four years ago." Kris said, never taking her eyes off the water ahead of them.

 "And how'd you manage that?" Katrina asked.

"Well, it's not actually me ship." Kris explained. "The owner, he, well… He ran off about a month ago. Just woke up one morning and he was gone."

 Katrina was quiet for a moment, having noted the undertone of sadness well disguised in Kris's voice. "And you… knew him well?"

 "Aye. Very well."

 "What was his name?"

 Kris sighed. "Jack, Jack Sparrow. Finest captain the Caribbean's ever seen." 

 Katrina narrowed her eyes and grinned. "Finer than _the _Captain Kris?"

Kris laughed. "If you can believe it, yes. Amazing man, he was. Though he seemed to think every other person was a eunuch."

 "You speak as if you were very fond of him, Captain." Katrina said coyly. "Why, one would almost think that you loved him."

 "You seem awfully sure of yourself for only knowing me for a week, Miss Katrina."

 Katrina laughed at Kris's formalness. "You love him, don't you? Usually when a woman starts to drool when talking about a man that means they're in love!"

  Kris couldn't help but laugh. Usually talking about Jack made her miserable, but it was nearly impossible to be miserable around someone as cheery as Katrina. Actually, she found that talking to certain people about Jack made her almost feel better. 

 "Captain!" Will said, walking up behind them. "May I talk to you for a moment?"

 "Certainly." Kris said. "Katrina, have you ever steered a ship before?"

 "No." Katrina said truthfully.

 "Well here's your chance. Just keep her going straight, and be sure not to crash into a whale or anything, though I doubt there's any land around here."

 Katrina nodded and placed herself at the wheel as Kris led Will to the rail overlooking the ocean. She said nothing, but instead peered out at the water wistfully.

 Will studied her for a moment, watching her eyes study the waves and move over towards the gulls reeling overhead. The breeze ruffled her hair slightly, and in that moment he caught a glimpse of what Jack must have seen in her. She was far from perfect, but he had to admit she wasn't hard on the eyes. Her small frame gave her an almost delicate look, but he still she could kill you if she wanted. Her light blue eyes were set into a pretty face, tanned from working so long in the sun and adorned with a few slight freckles that seemed to blend in with her skin, so you had to look closely to see them. Her thick reddish brown hair, auburn was probably the proper word for it; fell down her back in long waves. But as he studied her expression, Will could've sworn he saw something familiar in there, something that reminded him of himself. It took him a moment to realise that it was loneliness; the missing of a person you couldn't live without, as if a part of you was gone…

 "What is it you wanted to talk to me about, Turner?" Kris said finally, tearing her eyes away from the horizon and looking up at him.

 "I just wanted to know more about where we're going." Will admitted. "You haven't said much about it." 

 "I see." Kris replied. "Well, what to say? It should take a couple weeks at the most to reach Cementerio Del Angel, and supposedly there's treasure, lots of it. We'll drop Katrina off before we reach the island, most probably in Cuba."

 Will nodded. He could hear Mia yelling from somewhere on the deck behind them, locked in a duel with Brett. Ever since Will had offered to help her improve her skills, she'd taken to challenging anyone who wasn't busy on the ship to a duel. She really wasn't all that bad, once you got to know her. Really, underneath the sarcastic, cocky appearance, she was just a lonely little kid.

 "Well, Turner, I'd expect you to get back to work now that your thirst for knowledge has been quenched." Kris said, before walking back to her place at the wheel. And Will noted, finally, that underneath the mask of a pirate woman with a three million shilling reward on her head, she was really just a lonely little kid too. 

Funny how things run in the family.

* * *

 Back in the brig of the Ebony Rose, Delia had impatiently taken Jack's place of pacing the length of the cell. Jack laid leaning against the wall, casually scuffing his boot against the floor. Suddenly, he jumped up and grabbed an unsuspecting Delia by the shoulders, roughly holding her arms behind her back.

 "What are you-" Delia started, but Jack's whipping out a knife and holding it to her throat silenced her for a split second. True fear crept into her emerald eyes, before she opened her mouth and-

 "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"  She screamed, as loud as she possibly could. The scream echoed throughout the leaky bilge, waking up the sleeping guard and summoning three more from above deck.

 "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Delia screamed, kicking and thrashing violently. "LET ME GO YOU FILTHY EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN BEING!!!!"

 "Oy!!" the guard yelled, jumping up from his seat. "What do you think you're doing?!"

  "Let us out!" Jack commanded, struggling to keep the knife level with Delia's throat as she struggled. "Or the lady here gets it!"

 As the guard struggled with the keys and the navy officers readied their guns to be shot, Smith came sauntering in. 

 "What's all the commotion here?" he commanded.

 "It's Sparrow, captain!" the guard said. "He's going to kill Lady Defaulo!"

 "KILL me?!" Delia screamed. "No, he won't-" she kicked him hard in the shins, "be-" she managed to elbow him in the ribs- "KILLING ME!"

 "Calm down, everyone." Smith said smoothly, walking up to the bars. "You can let go now, Sparrow, your act is over."

 "It's not a bloody act!" Jack said menacingly, moving the knife closer to her throat. "Now I swear to god she'll get it if you don't let us out!!"

 "No you won't." Smith stated shortly. 

 Jack, who had everything about this particular plan thought out, was definitely not expecting that. He would have expected a reply like that to come from a small child, or an extremely stubborn and opinionated woman (three of which came to mind). Actually, Smith's reply caught him so off guard that he nearly let go of the still thrashing Delia. And apparently, Jack wasn't the only one who was surprised by Smith's unusual comment. His men, though they still had their guns pointed towards Jack, occasionally sent a confused look in their captain's direction, and even Delia had let out an angry little gasp.

  "Excuse me?" Jack said finally. Delia gave up struggling so violently and stood stock still, occasionally giving vain little attempts to escape.

 "You heard me Jack." Smith said, sneering. "If you're really going to kill her, than do it. Go ahead."

 Delia's mouth hung open almost as wide as Jack's did. Had he just said what they thought he did? Did he just tell Jack to kill his fiancé?

 Jack looked like he wanted to. He really did. The knife was so close to her throat, freedom was just within his grasp…  

  Jack looked indecisive, looking from Delia to Smith to the knife in his hand, and let out an exasperated sigh, which, though rather loud and dramatic, was the first real thing to come out of his mouth all night. "I can't do it."

 "What's that you say, _captain _Sparrow?" Smith jeered.

"You bloody well know what I said." Jack said, pushing Delia away from him, the latter who immediately started to straighten herself up a bit. She looked absolutely miserable, but strangely didn't seem the least bit wary of the man who had just held her at knife-point. The numerous navy officers who had been drawn to the commotion stared at either Jack or Smith, trying to see what kind of reaction they would get. Surely their captain wouldn't let some pirate talk to them like that…

 "I can't do it." Jack continued. "Although I'm sure, since you have just readily handed your fiancé over to me to kill, you'll have fun doing the honours, aye?"

 Smith frowned. "The only reason I said that, Sparrow, was because I knew you would never do such a thing. Really, you're utterly predictable. Now, kindly hand over that knife."

 When Jack made no effort to give him the knife, Delia huffily grabbed it from him and thrust her hand through the bars, the knife mere inches away from Smith's face.

 "Ah, well, thank you dear." He said. "And may I ask how you got it in there in the first place?"

 This time Delia made no effort to explain. 

 "She smuggled it in inside her corset." Jack said, pointing towards Delia, who smirked triumphantly. 

 Smith nodded slightly. "Ah, yes, that would make sense. So, now that you two have proved that you can act worth your salt, and believe me, I know it was all an act, I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay without food for the next three days?"

 Jack looked over at Delia, who was staring at Smith with a mixture of hate, defiance and… admiration, was it? No, it couldn't be. Smith was nothing but a cold, guiltless, shameless heartless sneak… He didn't deserve anything from her…

 Smith ordered his crew out, surprisingly, including the single guard that had been keeping watch over the two prisoners. He followed his crew out halfway, and although he was still visibly in earshot, Delia let out a loud sigh. 

 "I can't believe it!" she exclaimed, angrily throwing her hands up into the air. "It didn't work!! How could it not have worked! God, Jack, you and your stupid plans… I should have known…"

 "I can't help that it didn't work, Luv!" Jack exclaimed. "Really, it was a good plan… practically foolproof…"

 "Your opinion of foolproof isn't quite understandable, Sparrow." Delia shot back.

 "Notice how I didn't physically hurt you while I was threatening to kill you." Jack said, rubbing his side. A bruise was the best case scenario for that one…

 Delia smirked. "What can I say? I'm an actress." 

 Heavy footsteps echoed throughout the cell as Smith returned. He completely ignored Jack, but instead slowly approached the place Delia was leaned against the bars, miserably trying to straighten out her long, golden hair. 

 "Delia?" his voice sounded timid for once, almost pleading. "Are you…. Alright?"

  Delia turned around, acting as if just looking at him was a painful waste of her precious energy. But there was something in her eyes, something Jack recognised…

 "I'm fine." She said, finally facing him. "About as fine as someone locked in the brig of a merchant ship could be." 

 Although Delia was blocking most of Smith from Jack's view, he could still see the guilty look on his brother's face. Serves him right…

 "You know I have no choice, Lia." He said, reaching through the bars and stroking her face lightly. "The law states that I have to do this…"

 "And what do you state, Jeremy?" Delia replied, brushing his hand away. "What do you have to say about all of this?"

 Smith stared down at her, his face full of… what? Jack had never seen him looking like that. Rather like a small child, or a puppy dog…

 Smith then bent down, and, as well as he could, kissed Delia slightly on the lips. Before long, the sweet kiss had turned into an all-out make out session, Delia readily kissing him back, their hands intertwined through the bars…

 Jack was nearly disgusted as he watched this. Honestly, you think they could wait until she was out of the goddamn cell… He would have never felt the need for that…

 He quickly pushed that thought out of his head, for not only was that a lie (and a big one, too), but he had no time for daydreaming at the moment. 

 Delia and Smith went on kissing and didn't stop until Jack had plopped huffily down onto the floor. "Don't mind me here, I can watch." He said, half bitterly and half playfully so the obviously love-sick couple immediately broke away from each other, Smith grimacing slightly and Delia shooting a disgusted look in Jack's direction.

 Jack paid no attention to them as they said their goodbyes, I love you's and Smith promising to let her out as soon as they hit land. In short, Smith left, Delia stared after him for a moment before turning to face Jack, the disgusted look once again adorning her hopelessly beautiful face.

 "You, Jack, are a kinky, disgusting, perverted excuse for a pirate." She said haughtily, before sitting down and leaning against the opposite wall.

 Jack couldn't help but grinning. Call him bitter; but he loved to see couples disgusted by the thought of someone watching them, well, _coupling_. There was a sweet irony in the thought, that now that Smith had locked Jack away, he couldn't be alone with his fiancé without breaking some precious laws. 

 If he was alone, his brother might as well be alone too.


	10. All is fair in love and war

Author's note: yay! I have another new chapter… this time it's a cliff-hanger, so please don't be mad! And thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews!! *hands a stick of juicy fruit to everyone* Well, this originally started out as a short chapter, but now it's this monster of a thing. You know how it goes. Well, enjoy!

          ~Kris

 Jeyke: I took your hint… here's the new chapter!! Lol yes, Delia's slowly becoming one of my favourites… Thanks for the reviews!

Roz: Hmm… what will happen to Jack.. you must read to find out! And I couldn't very well leave Katrina all alone, could I? (well, could Kris I guess…) on a side not, I got your letter! Thankers! 

 Well thanks again for the comments!

Chapter 10

Mia strode out onto the deck, the morning sunlight practically blinding her as it glinted off the waters. But still, it was a glorious day. She took in a deep breath of fresh ocean air, the salt teasing her senses slightly, the wind playfully tousling her hair. A gull cawed overhead, the familiar sound casting a slight grin over Mia's plain looking face… But didn't gulls mean land was near? Her grin grew a little wider as she realised they would probably reach port that day, and getting off the ship for once would be a relief.

 Yelling good morning to Bill as he climbed across the shrouds up the mast (or at least who she thought was Bill, it could have been Brett for all she knew), she walked across the deck, the anticipation of a new duel rising slightly within her. Ever since Will had offered to help her improve her fencing skills, Mia had developed a slight obsession with swordplay. It's not that she hadn't known how to use a sword before he offered, but the knowledge that she might actually have to use it to defend herself had definitely peaked an interest with her… 

 Mia lightly touched the hilt of her sword. Her brand, spankin' new sword. She had been a little more than excited when Will had presented it to her, though she knew that he had quite a few extras (he liked to make them in his free time, and apparently he had a _lot _of free time). It was plain, but it was definitely beautiful, the delicate way the designs were etched into the handle, the gleam of the clean, sharp blade…

 "Will you _please _pay attention to what you're doing, Brett?" Kris's voice rang across the deck, a slight undertone of worry in her voice. Mia turned to see her standing in front of the wheel as usual, staring up at the mast as who Mia had previously thought was Bill hung over the side of the shrouds, obviously watching a certain passenger they had taken onto their ship. "You've fallen off those shrouds before, and you have my word that if you fall off again not one person will be sorry for you!"

 Embarrassed, Brett hastily climbed down from the ropes and sauntered off in his twin brother's direction. 

 Kris laughed and turned her attentions back to steering the ship, although Mia could see that she spent most of the time talking to Katrina instead of staring out into the horizon as she usually did. Mia felt a slight pang of guilt as she realised that the only reason for Kris's former vacant stare-at-the-horizon-in-silence expression was because Jack was gone. Though it took a while, she had started to feel guilty for what happened. She still hated Jack (with a passion) but if she hadn't decided to stow away on his ship, if he hadn't have found her and hid her in his cabin instead of killing her, Kris wouldn't have gotten upset, and Jack wouldn't have left…

 But of course, if Kris was still feeling miserable, she didn't show it. If there was one cliché she would use to describe Kris, it would be that she was a knight in shining armour. Not that Kris was an attractive man, or even a man for that matter, but ever since Mia was a child she had gotten the impression that there was a layer of invisible armour surrounding her. She never talked about her feelings, had only mentioned her dead mother a total of three times in Mia's presence, and as far as she knew, Kris didn't even have a father. Sure, she showed affection to her loved ones and smiled and laughed, but she had slowly used her past tragedies to protect herself, building up her armour year after year until her feelings were merely a memory…

 But, Mia realised with a slight feeling of uneasiness, Kris hadn't been like that when Jack was around. She had been armour-less, she'd been open, she'd been… happy.

 "Ameeeelia!!" a slightly taunting voice came from behind her. Mia turned around and screamed as a blade came whipping towards her, and she immediately unsheathing her own and threw it out in front of her in self-defence. Her sword connected with the other with a deafening 'clang', the light insanely bright as it bounced off of the two blades.

 Mia, still slightly in shock, followed the hand holding the blade with her gaze, until she finally saw who it was.

 "Will!!" she yelled, still out of breath from the shock of having a blade thrust at her. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

  "Just testing your reflexes." Will said with a grin, before re-sheathing his own sword. "And I must say, Amelia, they're improving."

 Mia stared at him open-mouthed for a moment, before slowly grinning. "I do hope you're not saying my reflexes were bad to start with." She said. "And by the way, my name's Mia." 

 Will laughed and turned away, walking across the deck to assist in the untangling of Brett from a pile of twine. Mia stared after him, still surprised. It made her feel ultimately accepted, though, the way he had quickly befriended her, and treated her like a little sister… And she had to admit he was good-looking. That always made it harder for her to concentrate while duelling him, she got distracted by him so easily…

 (A/N: from Kris's pov now!!) Kris laughed again as she and Katrina talked, mostly about nothing in particular. The way the sun glinted off the waters made Kris feel happier than she had in a long time…

 "We'll be in port in about an hour." She said to Katrina, steering the ship towards the miniscule smudge of land that lay ahead of them.

 Katrina turned around and squinted into the waters, trying to see what Kris was talking about. "I don't see anything." She commented.

 "You will." Kris replied, grinning. They were headed straight towards Cuba, which, in Kris's opinion, was one of the best places to drop off their passenger. Not only was it on their way, but it was far safer than some of their alternatives, Tortunga to name one. Now that she'd gotten to know Katrina, she wouldn't have the heart to leave her on an island filled with drunks and prostitutes. 

 About an hour later they were guiding the Black Pearl into the port. The port was extremely busy; sailors rigging their ships to the docks, salesmen hawking their fruits and novelties, people strolling the streets enjoying the fair weather. Everything was a picture of cheeriness; like a scene of a port in a painting or a sign hanging over a tavern.

 Katrina helped the crew load all the supplies they would need, but Kris insisted that they set sail as soon as possible, despite all the groans of complaint coming from the crew. She would have loved to be able to stay a few nights, to be able to roam the streets and relax in a nice tavern, but she didn't want to waste any more time than they already had. So, realising that this was going to be the last time she'd see her in a long time, if ever, Katrina cornered Kris right before they set sail once again.

 "I guess this is it." Kris said, giving a weak smile when Katrina didn't say anything. "We'll come to visit, don't worry. And if you need anything-"

 "I don't want to stay." Katrina interrupted.

 "Excuse me?" Kris said, caught completely off-guard by her answer. Why wouldn't she want to stay here? It was virtually perfect!

 "I don't want to stay here." Katrina repeated. 

 "Do you… want us to take you somewhere else?"

 Katrina paused. "Well, no. I want to come with you." She immediately felt foolish for even suggesting it. It was out of the question, she'd never learned how to sail or even use a sword…

 "Of course!" was Kris's initial response. "You… wish to travel with us?"

 Katrina smiled. "How do you always put it? I wish to go onto the Account."

Kris smiled at Katrina's use of the proper word for becoming a pirate. She sensed potential in her, even if she didn't really have palpable proof of it. "Then so be it."

 Roughly a week later, Kris was sitting on the edge of her bed, peering around the large, roomy cabin. She could hear Katrina laughing as she yet again got beaten by Mia in a duel (Mia had been more than happy to show someone how to fence, seeing how much progress she was making in her own lessons). Kris couldn't help smiling. For the last little while, her cousin had finally seemed happy…

 Kris played with the comforter covering the large bed, tracing her fingers over the designs embroidered in it. The whole cabin reminded her of Jack; it had been his, after all. She hadn't really wanted to move into it after he left, it just didn't seem right. The mahogany bed, the bookcase filled with various treasures and paraphernalia, the cupboard off to the side filled with enough rum to quench an army's thirsts, the wide windows… They all held to many now painful memories for her to bear. She had even considered giving up the spacey cabins, even if just the sleeping quarters, to Katrina, or even Mia. She hadn't even been in the other rooms since he left. Hell, the room even _smelled _like him. Or possibly it was just that he smelled like the room, the somewhat pleasing mixture of fresh linen, salty ocean air and sweet rum…

 It was in these few moments that she missed him most. But she would never see him again, that she was sure of. Even if she did, she wouldn't be able to speak to him, or even look at him. He'd hate her…

 "Kris!" A voice came from outside, followed by the knocking on the cabin door. "Captain, come out here! Quick!"

 Kris sighed and stood up, walked the rather extensive space between herself and the other side of the room and opened the door. As soon as she did this, she was practically yanked out of the cabin by a frantic looking Bill.

  "Another ship is approaching, quick!" he said, a mixture of worry and excitement plastered on his face. 

 Kris didn't bother to answer, but instead rushed out onto deck, roughly shoving Anna-Maria away from the wheel and shouted orders to the crew.

 "Hoist our colors!! It's a merchant ship, we'll take them head-on!" she said, giving the wheel a rather spastic spin and whirring the ship around so it would directly face the opposing ship as they passed it. It was roughly an hour past dusk; the dark creating an eerie effect against the Pearl's black sails…

 "Get ready to board her!!" she yelled. Men lined up against the sides, pistols and swords drawn, while others retreated below deck to attend to the cannons below.

 "Mia, I want you to stay in your cabin until everything is safe!" she yelled again. "Do you hear me?"

 "But Kris-" Mia started, a complainy tone in her voice. 

 "No Buts, Mia! Katrina, you keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't leave the cabin, savvy?"

 Katrina nodded and dragged the sullen looking Mia towards the cabins. Though Mia didn't exactly object, she didn't help Katrina either, as she resorted to literally becoming a dead weight so she had to drag her to the cabins.

 Kris grinned as they became close enough to the ship to read part of the name. The Ebony-something. She had a feeling that, even though there certainly weren't any riches on this ship, this would be a plunder worth-while….

* * *

 "What's happening?!" Delia's shrill voice jarred Jack from his sleep. Damn it, he'd never get any rest around her….

 The ship shuddered violently. Jack jumped up and peered out of the knot-hole, catching a glimpse of another ship as it grinded against the Ebony Rose.

 "We're under attack!" he yelled.

"We're what?!" Delia screamed. 

 "I said we're bloody under-" 

_BOOM.___

The ship shuddered once again as a cannon ball smashed through the wooden bilge and narrowly missed their cell. The guard jumped awake, took one look around and ran out, leaving his weapons, his coat, and-

 Delia was immediately on the floor, pushing her hands through the bars to try and reach the keys the guard had so tactfully left behind. After a few moments of struggling, she grabbed them and pulled them through the bars.

 "I've got them!" she exclaimed, flashing a wide grin. Both of them had completely forgotten that the ship was under attack as they found the right key and managed to turn it in the lock…

 * * *

"MIA!!" Kris screamed as she hopped over the rail with ease. The majority of her crew had immediately stormed the Ebony Rose, catching the sailors off-guard. Kris had stayed behind, helping to fight off the few sailors that had hopped the rail onto the Black Pearl. "I though I told you to stay put!!"

 Mia was on the opposite ship, fighting with all her might. And apparently, doing quite well holding up on her own. No one noticed as Kris scrambled past all the fighting pirates and sailors and over to Mia, stabbing the soldier she was fighting in the back without a second thought. She yanked her sword from his back and turned to face Mia, fuming.

 "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Kris screamed again, as the sailor stumbled backwards and fell over a few feet away from them. 

 "What does it look like I'm doing?!" Mia screamed back. "I'm helping you!"

 "No, Mia, you're not helping us!" Kris hollered, grabbing the back of Mia's shirt as she tried to scurry away. A sailor fell at their feet, causing both of them to stop in their tracks. He let out a small groan as he rolled over, revealing a dagger stabbed in his chest. He opened his mouth and coughed up some dark red blood, trying to sit up. After struggling for a few moments, he fell back down and lay still. He was dead.

 Mia stared down at him, looking like she would be sick. She let out a soft whimper, practically unheard due to the deafening noise of battle. She lightly kicked him with her foot, just to make sure he was really dead…

 _Bang!_

The shot rang out, momentarily drowning out the shouts of the men and the clashing of swords. Mia slumped to the ground, her auburn hair veiling her face that was contorted with pain, her sandy coloured shirt staining with blood at an alarming rate…

 "MIA!!" Kris screamed, throwing herself to the ground beside her cousin and shaking her frantically. No, she couldn't be… she couldn't be dead… Kris choked back a sob as she turned Mia onto her front and cleared back the hair from her face. The blood gathering in a small pool around her shimmered eerily in the moonlight. Her cousin… she's so young… she was Kris's responsibility…

 These thoughts were immediately pushed out of Kris's head when Mia groaned in pain. She was alive!

 "What happened…?" Mia said, trying to sit up. All she accomplished in doing was catching a glimpse of herself covered in blood. The shot hadn't hit her heart, but was dangerously close, resting just below her left shoulder…

 "My arm!!!" she creamed. "My arm…god, I'm dying!!! My arm…"

 "Shh, it's okay…" Kris said, easing Mia up into a sitting position. She ripped off her worn wool jacket and pressing it hard against Mia's wound, soaking up an alarming amount of blood in the process. Mia screamed in pain, but Kris virtually ignored her as she struggled to tie her jacket in place over Mia's arm. "We've got to get you out of here!"

 "What happened?!" Will's voice rang out from behind them. He was beside them in a flash, helping Kris tie the jacket over Mia's wound.

 "She was shot!" Kris exclaimed, yanking Mia's arm overtop of her head to stop the blood flow. Wasn't that much obvious?

 "By who?"

 "God knows who bloody did it, and right now I don't bloody care! We have to get her back to the bloody ship before she bloody dies like the rest of my bloody family! DO YOU BLOODY HEAR ME?!"

 Will was definitely not ready for Kris's uncalled for outburst. Instead of dwelling on it, he raised himself to a crouching position and struggled to pull Mia up into his arms. He grabbed hold of her, one arm under her knees and the other resting around the small of her back. He stood up, hoisted Mia into the air and stumbled slightly.

 "I'll take her back!" Will announced, in what he hoped was a heroic voice. But he had no time to worry about image now. "You stay here; I'll make sure she gets help."

 "You'll be-" Kris started, but will cut her off.

 "We'll be fine!" Will said. Kris stared at him for a split second, trying to decide if she should really trust him or not. Finally, after seeing the blood that covered Mia's arm beginning to soak onto Will's shirt, she nodded. Will was off in a flash, dodging the fighting men and hurrying towards the narrow board that connected the two ships.

 Kris grabbed her sword and stood up. Her back was to the cabins, the fight raging on before her.

If the shot had come from the fighting mass of men before her, she would never find the bastard who nearly killed Mia. But if it had come from someone inside one of the cabins…

 A woman rushed past Kris, nearly knocking her over. Through the darkness, Kris could make out her long, blonde hair and the deep violet of her dress. The woman, screaming, quickly ran around the corner and into one of the cabins.

 Kris whipped around to see where she had come from. She spotted a door almost directly behind her, in perfect shooting range from where she stood. If whoever had shot Mia was in a cabin, they would definitely be in there…

 Taking a deep, slightly nervous breath, Kris gripped her sword tightly in her hand, and rushed in through the door.

 She found herself in what seemed to be a dark, dingy hallway. She kept her back pressed against one of the walls as she slowly edged through the hallway, making as little sound as possible. She could see a faint light shining from around a corner a few feet ahead of her, and headed towards it, pouring an excruciating amount of care into each footstep…

 Just as she was about to turn the corner, Kris stopped abruptly. She could hear soft footsteps and heavy breathing coming from just around the bend, the obvious signs of someone trying to get around without being heard. Her breath caught as fear rose to her throat, mixing with her adrenaline and anger to create a powerful amount of energy. She gripped her sword tightly and raised it before her, drawing in a deep, shaky breath before lunging around the corner.

 Kris immediately stopped, all her former feelings of excitement drained. A powerful wave of emotion washed over her as she saw who it was standing barely three feet away from her. She was smothered by relief, anger, surprise and dread… Her eyes widened in fear, her face turned pale as the moonlight streaming through a small knot-hole in the planks, her body immediately tensing. Now, instead of gripping her sword in self defence, she gripped it simply to hold onto something, to assure herself that this was real. Her knuckles turned white from holding on so tight, she momentarily forgot to breath. This couldn't be happening… she didn't know what to feel, whether she should be angry or happy or neutral… But the man standing before her barely moved a muscle. Even without the small, virtually unhelpful stream of moonlight, she would have been able to recognise him. It would have been impossible not to.

 It was Jack.


	11. Everyone Hates Jeremy Smith aka I cant t...

(Where we left off:) 

(Author's note) Alrighty folks, sorry about the cliff-hanger from the last chapter. What can I say, I'm evil… muahahaha! Anyways, other than the first chapter, this is officially the one chapter that all takes place in one fixed spot. Actually, now that I think about it, the first chapter didn't really either. The third may have. (Firme de la bouch, Kris!) I just couldn't stop writing, and then when I added the stuff with Mia and Will it kinda broke the nice little flow I had going on there… so now it's like, 5 pages of nothing but Kris, Jack and the occasional Delia. What fun! So what I'm getting at here is sorry if this chapter's a smidge boring, but it'll just have to do. Savvy? Though, I might only find it boring because I read and revised and edited it so many times… god only knows…

Roz: bwahaha I'm evil… sorry bout all the torture, but I gotta get my fun somehow, right? Lol… and yes, Katrina's a pirate! Everyone rejoice. Hmm… good question… my guess is that he had a few extras with him. But you'll have to ask Will for that one… lol joking… well later Roz!

Jeyke: Yes, it's true! Jack's back! Kris was pretty surprised… so she did kinda keep quiet… and there's an argument of sorts in this chapter. I guess. Sorta. Maybe. Lol anyways… knowing them, there's bound to be plenty of arguments in the near future! Yeah, Elizabeth's still around, alive and healthy and in love with will and vice versa. I'm putting her in some more after a bit… and there may or may not be a dramatic (or not so dramatic, you never know) chapter involving her and Eponine in the near future…. O.o  Ha, dead stop… I'm evil… well glad you liked the chapter so much!

 As usual, thank you for the comments! I luv 'em! And also… I haven't really posted a disclaimer for a really, really long time… nor have I posted a proper one, so… *ahem* 

 I, Christi (Kris) Hubbs, also known as Kris the Great, do not own Pirates of the Caribbean, Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Gibbs, Anna-Maria, the Black Pearl or any other related paraphernalia. All of it is copywrite to Disney (including ((sadly)) the one and only Jack Sparrow) and not me. Kris Kayte, Mia Kayte, Benjamin Kayte, Katrina, Delia Defaulo, Captain Jeremy Smith, Bill, Brett, Amara, and the once mentioned Captain Hubbs belong to ME, are my OWN creation and are copywrite to me!! (Also including any of them unimportant made up characters not mentioned…) This story and all events are also copywrite to me, I can legally post fanfictions because I get no profit (money) out of it… Any offence a person should get from this story is completely unintentional… blahblahblah yattayattayatta… 

~Kris J 

**Chapter 11**

_This couldn't be happening… she didn't know what to feel, whether she should be angry or happy or neutral… But the man standing before her barely moved a muscle. Even without the small, virtually unhelpful stream of moonlight, she would have been able to recognise him. It would have been impossible not to._

_ It was Jack._

They stood silently like this for what seemed like hours, neither of them quite knowing what was going on or what was going to happen next. They gave off the impression of wild animals caught in each other's paths, two thieves who had just happened to be in the same place at the same time. 

 It seemed that one wrong move, one slip of the hand could change the pattern of Fate forever…

 Kris's overwhelming emotions soon sorted themselves out, mentally knocking her over with one simple, commanding instinct. Her hand relaxed, sending her sword clattering to the floor, finally breaking the heavy silence. But her sword had barely hit the ground when she had found herself in his arms, having rushed over to him so quickly that neither of them could have been sure how it happened. And the second Kris's arms had found themselves around Jack's neck, the second that she had felt the warmth radiating from his body and his surprisingly soft hair brush against her cheek, she had let herself go. Everything she had felt in the past two months, all the feelings of regret and guilt and sadness took form in the tears aimlessly spilling down her cheeks…

 All of his questions silently answered, Jack patted her back comfortingly. He'd never seen her cry before, and though he hated it when women cried, he found it slightly comforting to know that she was crying for him… that she _missed _him…

 "Shh… it's all right… don't cry, it's ok… Come on now Kris, it's all right…"

Though she had now found her voice, Kris's sobs grew slightly worse. "Jack… I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry…." She sobbed. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean it, I swear, I thought you were _dead_! I thought you'd left… I'm sorry… I love you!" she said this last part slightly louder, as if verifying it for herself as well as him. It didn't even matter if he felt the same way. The words were alien to her; they weren't even in her vocabulary, but to hear them come from her own mouth, to hear her voice projecting them for all to hear held a strange sense of power, a feeling that you were attached mortally to reality yet still floating away from it…

 Jack said nothing for the next little while, patting Kris's back as she sobbed uncontrollably into his shoulder. He rocked her slightly, cradling her tightly in his arms. Finally, her un-godly loud sobs stopped, and she removed her head from his shoulder. She stared up at him, her bluish grey eyes slightly puffy and extremely shiny, and the small circle of faint moonlight coming from the knot-hole placed almost exactly on her nose. He brushed a strand of hair away from her face, grinning slightly.

 "I know." He said. They stood there for a long time, merely looking at each other, mentally sorting through what had just happened and basking in each other's presence. 

 "Well now, isn't this cute." A cold voice came from just behind them. Jack recognised the voice straight away. It was Smith.

 Kris whipped around and pulled out her pistol, pointing it directly at Smith. It took her a slight moment to realise that she had just placed herself right in front of Smith's out-stretched sword, the tip barely inches away from her own face. She stared dumbfounded at it for a moment, before 

Smith's icy voice snapped her back to reality.   

 "Honestly, how many times have I told you that escape is impossible, Sparrow?" He spoke as if speaking to a disobedient child, stretching each word with slow, exaggerated syllables. The way he called Jack 'Sparrow' held none of the affection it did when Kris said it, instead it was dripping with hatred that seemed to pierce the dark, seemed solid enough to overtake both of them, to pierce their very hearts… "I really would have thought you were smart enough to have realised that by now."

 Kris loaded her pistol with a slight movement of her thumb, the click echoing throughout the barren bilge. 

 "And you, you… who are you?" Smith said, turning to Kris. He waved his sword slightly in the air as he spoke, as if it could tell him everything about her. "You're one of those bloody pirates that stormed my ship, aren't you? Yes, I can see it in your eyes, the cold defiance. They bloody well killed half of my men, but we drove them off eventually. And you should be proud; they stuck to those pathetic little guidelines. After all, they left without you, didn't they?"

  Kris's finger found the trigger, her hand tensing until the right moment to shoot. Jack's hand stayed protectively on her shoulder, but he stayed back; he had no weapons, after all. 

 "It's really too bad." Smith continued. "You're a pretty thing, you are. You shouldn't be wasting your time on this pushover, he doesn't love you. That creature's incapable of even the simplest feelings."

 Kris pulled the trigger. 

 Jack's hand tensed at this simple motion, gripping her shoulder almost painfully, and even Smith flinched. But nothing happened. Kris pulled the trigger again; still nothing. She pulled it again, one last time, and a pathetic little puff of gun powder protruded from the nozzle. 

 Smith snorted. "That was it? That's really all you've got? _The_ Captain Jack sparrow has to rely on some woman with a defective gun to manage his escape plans? _The _Captain Jack Sparrow has to-"

 He was cut off by Kris angrily whacking his sword from his unsuspecting hands with her the nozzle of her pistol, sending it clattering to the floor. Sensing his chance, Jack stepped forward and punched Smith square in the jaw. 

 You've got to understand that this particular situation would have made for a fantastic escape, had the clattering of Smith's sword not summoned four more sailors and had Kris not unceremoniously tripped over her own fallen sword as she had reeled back out of Jack's way.   

 "Yet again, Sparrow," Smith said, lightly rubbing his jaw, which was beginning to bleed. The soldiers who had been drawn by all the noise immediately surrounded Jack and Kris, weapons pointed straight at them. "You're outnumbered."

 After a few moments of struggling, the sailors (under Smith's order, of course) had managed to force Jack and Kris into the cramped cell. The sailors had quickly dispersed, leaving Smith sneering at them as he stood a few feet away from the cell.

 "Let us out you bloodthirsty bastard!!" Kris screamed through the bars.

 "You can't keep us here forever!" Jack added.

 "Damn you and your family and your family's children to the deepest bowels of hell, you bloody-"

Kris was cut off by Smith.

 "Oh really? _All _of my family?" He jeered, slowly approaching the cell.

Kris spat through the bars, narrowly missing his face. Disgusted, Smith retreated back to who knows where, leaving Kris and Jack.

 "That spastic cold blooded BASTARD!" Kris screamed, banging her fists against the bars. She gave them one last hit before resting her head against the cold metal, fighting back the urge to slam her whole body against the bars. She groaned slightly, banging her head slightly against the bars in a rhythmic manner. 

 After a few moments, Kris looked up and walked over to where Jack was sitting, in the same bored, uneasy position he'd been sitting in when Delia was still his cell-mate. Kris sat down beside him, leaning her head against his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her. Jack, although he was notably miserable that he had to spend more time in his brother's jail cell, couldn't help thinking that, this time around, the conditions were noticeably leaning towards his favour. Though he had lost one huffy, slightly snobbish woman and had gained one with a temper that could be compared to that of a bull's, there were a few minor changes. One, he no longer had to worry about what Kris was doing with his ship; he only had to worry about what the rest of the crew was doing to his ship. Two, Kris certainly didn't hate him. And three; this time there was no guard.

 Fate, in a way, was on his side.

* * *

 Kris awoke to a thin stream of sunlight illuminating their cell, giving the atmosphere an almost cheery feeling. She yawned and shifted her position slightly, feeling the rough wool of Jack's coat brush against her skin. She realised that it was covering her like a blanket. Funny, she didn't remember having it on…. It must have been Jack. She turned to face him, his arm that had previously been resting around her waist shifted slightly, coming to rest on her arm. She looked at him for a while, almost hungrily drinking in his features, the face she hadn't seen for so long… He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. There was no trace of worry in his face; no indication of any of the hardships that he'd been through or the pain his past had held… Unless, of course, you caught a glimpse of one of his many battle scars. Kris immediately turned her attention to the arm that was slung across her own, the arm which she knew held an extensive, lightning-bolt like scar sprawled across it. She gently pushed up the sleeve of his shirt, revealing the light, slightly parched pink skin of the scar. She'd heard the story behind this particular scar many, many times; but the fantastic story behind it wasn't why she had always felt a certain amount of compassion for him for bearing it; it was the scar itself. Having a similar one running the length of her leg, from her thigh to her knee, she knew how painful they could be. And hers, she knew, was barely half as bad as his. She gently traced the length of the scar with her finger, quickly drawing back as Jack flinched.   

 She sat up slightly, so that she was at the same height as him as he lay half sitting against the wall, and lightly kissed his lips. When he didn't move, she kissed him again; slightly longer this time. He groaned as he awakened, moving only slightly as if he wanted to fall back asleep. Kris laughed slightly and gently pulled down on one of the braids in his beard, causing him to flinch and groan again.

 "It's too bloody early…" he groaned, not opening his eyes. "Too early…" Kris laughed again as she brushed some of his hair off of his face and planted yet another kiss on his lips, this time lingering slightly longer than she'd intended to. He leaned over to her, draping his arm across her back as Kris kissed him again. "Mmm… I'm awake, I'm awake Delia…"

  Kris immediately drew back, so violently that Jack was forced backwards. He opened his eyes, a frightened look on his face, but smiled when he saw Kris. "Nice way to wake me up, though I could have done without the whole shoving me off of you bit…" he trailed off when he saw the look on Kris's face.

 "_Delia_?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "May I ask who _Delia _is?"

 Jack's jaw dropped. "Did I just say…" Kris nodded. "I called you…" Kris nodded again, this time narrowing her eyes. 

 "And you still don't feel the need to tell me who she is?" Kris demanded calmly, her voice eerily quiet compared to her expression.

 "No, really, she's not…" Jack tried to explain. Kris glared at him.  "I didn't…" Kris shook her head. "She was me bloody cell-mate, alright?!" Jack replied, stumbling to find his wording as he sat up. "We didn't…"

 "You didn't what?" Yet again, Kris's voice was eerily calm.

 "She engaged to my brother!" Jack blurted out, growing uneasy at the way Kris was looking at him. "She's practically my _sister _in law!!!"

 Kris's expression turned from angry to surprised. "Really? You're brother's engaged?"

"Surprisingly, yes, I have no idea how he'd convince any woman to marry him though because-" Jack started, but he was cut off by Kris.

 "You have a brother?"

Jack immediately realised that he had not-so-tactfully forgotten to mention the fact he had a brother to Kris. "Yes."

 Kris looked at him for a moment, her expression unreadable. "I don't believe you."

"Why not?!"

"Because." Kris said, a hint of anger showing in her voice. Just a hint. "I know you, Jack. You're a good liar and you're a charmer and you'd do anything to cover something up. Besides, even if she really was engaged to your brother that would never stop you!"

 "Kris!" Jack yelled. "Trust me! I swear on my mother's grave that I didn't do anything!"

 "What have you done to make me trust you?!" Kris yelled back. 

Just then, to Jack's surprise, Delia entered the bilge carrying a large bundle in her arms. Her long, blonde hair was brushed and curled to perfection, and it looked as if she had long ago changed out of her ripped up purple gown as she now sported a lavish green satin number. "Hello!" she said cheerfully.

 "Tell her we didn't do anything!" Jack exclaimed to Delia, pointing at Kris.

"Well, we did try this unsuccessful escape plan and we fought a lot but…" Delia trailed off at the strange stares she was receiving from the two pirates. "Oh, you mean _did _something…" she gestured suggestively, before making a face. "Hell no! I mean sure, maybe if he had a bath or something, but let's face it, he's no Jeremy. I mean, just _look _at him-"

 "Thank you, Delia." Jack said, before turning to Kris. "Do you believe me _now_?!" 

 "She seems sincere enough, especially about the whole bath part." Kris commented, studying Delia. "I believe you. But who's Jeremy?"

 "My brother." Jack replied sullenly. "My half brother really, his last name's not Sparrow. It's Smith."

 Kris gaped at him. "That bastard is your brother?!"

 "Excuse me!" Delia said, rapping her fist against the bars. "That bastard's fiancé is standing right here."

 "Oh yeah." Kris replied sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm sure he's really ah… um… nice?"

 Delia laughed. "That's all right. And I'm guessing you're Kristalle?"

 Kris nodded. "But how did you-"

 "Oh, Jack talks about you a lot. Never really mentioned your name properly, but he mutters in his sleep." Delia said. Jack gave an objective snort about her comment on his muttering in his sleep, but Kris laughed slightly. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Kristalle."

 "You too." Kris replied. "But please, call me Kris."

"Is Smith planning on letting us out anytime soon?" Jack asked quickly, before either of them could take up talking about him again. 

 Delia sighed and brushed a stray strand of her golden hair away from her face. "He hasn't mentioned it, but I'm working on him. I _know _I can convince him to let you out somehow, but it'll take a while. He's unbelievably stubborn." She shoved the bundle she had been holding through the bars. "I brought provisions, though. If I remember correctly, Jeremy hasn't fed you since our last escape attempt."

 Jack readily grabbed the bundle from her and opened it, grabbing a piece of bread and hungrily biting into it. Kris looked through the rest, before pulling out a bottle of deep, red liquid. She smiled as she held the bottle up to the sunlight, the liquid shimmering. "You brought us rum?"

 Delia smiled. "Just because you're stuck in that cell doesn't mean you can't have a bit of fun, does it?" she cringed slightly after a moment as she realised the numerous possible meanings of what she just said. "But not, just, no. I'll be back tomorrow to bring more food, and I'll bring you some clothes, too." She motioned to Kris, whose clothes were not only tattered from the previous night's battle but also smudged with crusted blood, not all of which was Mia's. 

 "She doesn't need clothes." Jack replied, his words slurred due to the fact that his mouth was stuffed full of bread.

 Kris shot him a murderous look as Delia reluctantly started towards the wooden steps. "What the gentleman."

 Jack chose not to answer as he was too busy eating. Kris sat back down beside him and stared at the bottle in her hand silently.

 "Is something wrong?" Jack asked once his mouth was finally emptied. 

 "No." was Kris's initial response. It was a reflex really; she was never used to talking about anything that bothered her.

 "Yes there is. Was it something… did I do something?"

 Kris shook her head and looked up, giving a weak smile. "No. It's just… Mia."

 "What about her?"

 "She was shot."

 Jack, who had just bit into a piece of sweetmeat, nearly choked and immediately spat it out, barely missing Kris. "She what?! Is she alright?"

 Kris was surprised at how he actually seemed to care about whether or not Mia was hurt. "She's fine… I think. She only got hit in the shoulder, but it was bleeding pretty badly. I was with her when it happened. That's the reason I came down here, I thought the shot had come from somewhere in the cabins…"

 "And you found me." Jack finished for her. "And you got stuck in this jail cell, and now Mia's out there bleeding to death because of my brother."

 "Close." Kris replied. "But Mia's not out there bleeding to death, Will took her back to the Pearl."

 "He always was the honourable hero type."

 Kris cracked a slight smile. "And you're not?"

"No."

 Kris laughed. "I'm sure she's fine though, Jacob would have taken care of her by now. Unless, of course, you decided to fire our surgeon before you ran off."

 "Not to worry, as far as I know Jacob's still there patching people up. But I didn't run off; I told you that." He took another large bite of sweetmeat and attempted a smile, only succeeding in looking completely barbaric.

 Kris smiled and held up the bottle she still held in her hand. "Guess there's only one thing left to do." She said, popping the cork and taking a long swig. 

*******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Okay, okay, had this chapter been a music video I'd definitely make it onto Fromage 2005. And also, you may not have noticed my (very) subtle yet sick little jokey hint type things that have been placed throughout the story, but there were a couple in this chapter so I just apologise for any of you out there who are shaking their heads… Tisk tisk. But hey, I don't really want to actually mention stuff… This story's generally supposed to be for all ages… well, I'm sure all of you out there are yelling 'firme de la bouche' at me so I'll shut me yap. *hands a candy apple to everyone actually taking the time to read this* thankers! J 


	12. Fish Talk

**  Author's Note: **Hey all! Short chapter this time… Wil's been very unhelpful…. (Wil's my muse, no relation to Will Turner) But really… I've been so unbelievably, err, lazy and tired and preoccupied with writing my speech for school, and then I've taken to walking home which takes FOREVER but it's good exercise so I'm not complaining only when I get home I'm too tired to drag myself to the computer… All of this was written, like, last night. It was longer, but it was going slowly downhill so I just kinda hacked it off right in the middle. Yup. There's a credit at the bottom of the page too… 

 Oh yeah, also….. I'M 14 NOW! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! (I'm pretty happy about that, if you couldn't tell) I also got a fish for my birthday named Armand but we won't go into that… All I'll say is that he's named after one of the vampire chronicles characters! (was gonna name him Lestat… but he seemed like more of an Armand)

 Roz: Sorry for putting you in agony… cheesy gushiness… I love it too! (I still think it deserves a spot on fromage 2005. Like that's gonna happen anytime soon…..) Yay! I'm glad they're back together too!  Ha, it's actually surprising that I came close to spelling fermé la bouche right… I'm brutal at French! Yet I still go around yelling things in French…. O.o Thanks for the review!!! (gah which reminds me I still hafta reply to your comments on elfwoood! Lazy me)

 Jeyke: Glad you liked it! Yup, Smith's Jack's brother… Same mother, different fathers, I may have explained something about that in chapter 8 I think… Hmm, yeah, I suppose they grew up together… Obviously Smith hates Jack but Jack just can't figure out why… Scallywag's right! Firne de la bouch pretty much means shut up in French, I learned it from my friend from Quebec… Thanks for the review!!!

~Kris (the great)

**Chapter 12******

"OW! Be careful!" Mia screamed, jerking her arm away from Jacob as he attempted to bandage it.

 "Hold still!" Jacob commanded. "I know it hurts, but it'll just get worse if it's left open!" He struggled to keep Mia from thrashing around as he tried yet again to bandage the wound adorning her arm. She gave one last violent pull on her arm, causing the poor surgeon to let go. Her arm came jerking backwards, succeeding in knocking over one of the many bottles of medicine on the table beside her bed, the table and the rest of its contents rattling dangerously as the bottle came crashing to the floor. Jacob sighed as he watched the bottle smash and the dark greenish brown liquid rapidly spread across the floor. Mia triumphantly lay back in the bed, panting slightly from the strain she had just put herself through and holding her hand firmly over her wound. She hadn't minded it so much when he had removed the bullet (she was definitely NOT going to live the rest of her life with a chunk of metal lodged in her shoulder) but her arm could heal damn well enough on its own.

 After a moment of lying back in bed and regaining her strength, Mia lifted her head up to study the silent Jacob. He was staring passively down at the still-spreading liquid, shaking his head slightly. Besides being a respectable and talented surgeon, he was probably the most patient man Mia had ever seen. So patient, in fact, that he could give even Will a run for his money (which was pretty good, considering he had been putting up with Mia for the past few weeks). He was relatively young, with tousled sandy coloured hair and thoughtful green eyes. His jaw was squared off and a slight hint of stubble showed on his tanned face, creating contrasting shadow against the faint bags under his eyes. He wasn't exactly handsome, but he wasn't the worst looking surgeon Mia had ever seen. She felt a slight pang of guilt, something that had become more and more usual in the past few weeks, when she saw him sigh once again and turn back to her.

 "Are you done yet?" he asked, his face showing hints of fatigue as he held up the bandage once again.

 "No…" Mia groaned, pulling her arm back out of his reach.

 "Mia, this would go so much quicker if you would just cooperate with me…" Jacob started, but was interrupted by the door to the room being quietly opened as Will walked in. He cast a sympathetic look in Mia's direction and a quizzical one over the now medicine covered floor, but said nothing about it as he turned to Jacob.

 "Do you need some help in here?" he said, ignoring the loud snort coming from Mia. 

 "You, Mr. Turner," Jacob said, clapping him on the shoulder, "Are a lifesaver. That damn loblolly of mine is never around when I need him… Please, could you hold her down so I can bandage her arm properly?" 

 Mia, who (though she didn't show it) had been relatively glad to see Will, widened her eyes in horror. She almost yelled out a complaint, but thought better of it. She definitely did not want to look like a temperamental three year old in front of the man who had just recently saved her life. 

 Will promptly held her arms down against the bed as Jacob bandaged her arm, taking care not to pull too tightly as he tied it in place.

 "There. Now, was that so bad Mia?" Jacob said, standing up and motioning to Will so he'd let go of her. Mia blushed slightly as Jacob strode over to his desk, apparently looking for something amongst the papers and strange looking tools covering the desktop. He picked up a small silver flask and tossed it in Mia's direction, the latter who gave a slight jump and just barely caught it.

 "What's this?" She said, shaking it slightly. She looked up at Will, who just shrugged.

"We always give crew members an extra flagon of rum after they've been through something like this." Jacob explained. "And, well, we're not all that clear of your position among the crew, but… err… Just don't mention it to anyone."

 Mia gave a slight laugh. "Thanks a lot, patch."

 Jacob laughed and shook his head. "Well, I've got to go tend to that lad in the next room… Got a splinter the size of me arm wedged in his foot. You, Mia, if you don't touch anything you can stay and rest awhile, but you're allowed to leave. Soon." 

 As soon as Jacob left, Mia stood up and stretched. "Shall we?" she said to Will, grinning. "I can't stand this place."

 "You wouldn't." Will replied, smiling as Mia promptly led him out of the room and out onto deck. 

"So, has anything exciting happened since I was down?" Mia asked, breathing in a deep breath of ocean air. "Like, say, Kris falling madly in love with Gibbs and running away to get married?"

 Mia didn't receive the laughter from Will she had expected. 

 "Well, Amelia, there's something you should know." Will said, avoiding her gaze. "The crew was talking, and they decided that I should be the one to tell this to you…"

 "What?" Mia said, ignoring the fact that he had just called her Amelia. A deep sense of dread ascended onto her, and she couldn't seem to shake it off with any of her usual cracks at, well, anything. The sympathetic look he was now giving her wasn't helping matters, especially not his light brown puppy dog eyes or the way his slightly unruly hair was falling in his face… 

 "Amelia…" Will started. "Mia…"

_That's not good._ Mia thought. _He remembered my name._

"It's about Kris." Will said. 

Mia's face fell. _Oh god… spit it out, Turner…_ "What about her?"

"She's gone." Will said, looking down again to avoid Mia's gaze.

 "What do you mean she's gone?"

"She's gone!" Will repeated, still not looking at her. "No one's seen her since I carried you back to the ship."

 Mia stood silently for a moment, gaping slightly at him. She swallowed roughly before speaking again. "Do you think she could be…" She started, but couldn't finish. She swallowed again. "You don't think she's…" Mia almost choked on her sob, but managed to hold it down. "Dead?"

  Will looked up, this time looking even more sympathetic. "Mia, I… I don't know."

 "But there's a good chance." Mia finished for him. "There's a good chance she was killed."

"More than a chance." Will admitted. "But Kris is also strong. There's a chance she's alive somewhere, that she's still on that ship."

 "But then why aren't we looking for her?" Mia said, practically whispering. "Why aren't we still back there searching for her?"

 "Because it's too dangerous." Will replied, reaching out to pat her shoulder. "The crew voted not to go back. But I swear to god Mia, if I could, I'd go look for her. I'd be there right now! But that's just not the way it works."

 Mia finally got to the point where she couldn't hold back the tears anymore. "But _why _isn't it like that?!" she sobbed. "Why can't we just turn back around and storm those bloody bastards, send them to the ocean floor for all I care…" 

 Will hugged her, a brotherly embrace, as she cried. "It's alright Mia…"

 "No it's not!" Mia shouted, pulling away from him. "It's not alright because Kris is gone and I'm miles away from home and no one cares enough to even TRY and save her and it's my fault she even went missing, that we even came across that ship because if it wasn't for me Jack would still be here and we'd all be in Tortunga right now and… and… I miss my father."

 Will was slightly taken aback by her outburst. "Amelia… It's not your fault Jack left…"

 "Yes it _is_!!" Mia screamed, before turning away and storming into the galley. She ignored Will calling after her as she bumped past Brett, or Bill, or whoever the hell it was and into the nearest cabin, slamming the door and slumping to the floor, sobbing.

***

 "What the Pearl really is, is freedom." Kris couldn't even count how many times Jack had fed that line to her, though she was pretty sure he'd had at least a few to drink each time. Never the less, she listened attentively, staring up at him through her thick hair as her head rested in her arms, her knees pulled tightly up against her as she waited for him to continue. 

 "There's no feeling that can match the feeling of a ship cutting through the water, like a fish as it effortlessly glides through the oceans of eternity…" His words were surprisingly clear considering the empty bottle in his hand. "The serene flick of its tail disturbing the water… The glint of its scales in the sunlight…"

 Kris stared at him in awe for a moment, completely lost in the, the _depth _of what he was saying. Not to mention the way the slightly faint sunlight was hitting him, sparkling off the many rings on his fingers as he raised his hand to the air, illuminating his tanned skin and brightening his deep eyes… Then she realised what she was listening to. She shook her head, jarring her from her previous state of mind, and looked up. "Can we please stop with the fish talk?"

 "What's wrong with the fish talk?" Jack said, lowering his hand and his gaze to look at her.

 "Too many things." Kris replied.

 "Like what?"

 "Should I start with the weirdness of it or the fact that I find it interesting?" 

"I had no idea you felt so strongly about fish." Jack replied, coyly fidgeting with the empty bottle.  "I don't." Kris replied, grinning. "I just don't like being seduced by men talking about them."

 "So I take it that you're being seduced by me?" Jack said, reaching over and fidgeting playfully with a strand of her hair. "Or is it just the fish?"

 "Enough with the fish!" Kris exclaimed jokingly, giving a futile attempt to edge away from the arm he had now slinked around her waist. "I don't want to hear about the fish!" 

 "Oh really?" Jack replied, leaning closer as Kris tried to push him off again, desperately trying to conceal the smile on her face. But why did he have to smell so good? Did he know he smelt so good, or did Kris just have a strange attraction to the smell of rum?

 "Um, excuse me?" a voice, trying to hide either a laugh or a note of disgust, came from the bars just above them. Delia's face peered down at them, a half smile slightly visible before she routinely scrunched her face up and shook her head. "Look, I know this is a little much to ask, but can you please keep your hands away from each other for the time being?"

 Kris sheepishly stood up and smiled.

"Thank you." Delia said, giving a toss of her long blonde hair. "I don't exactly have all that much time, anyways. Jeremy still doesn't know about me helping you, and with good reason. He's been in an extremely bad mood since the ship got stormed, he's even taken to throwing plates around and…" She trailed off and plastered one of her trademark smiles across her face. "But don't worry, I'm sure he'll come around one of these days. It won't take very long, I'm positive, he'll warm up to the idea of letting you go… I mean, Jack's his _brother _for god's sake, that's got to count for something… And then there's Kris, I'm sure he'll let you out after a while, he doesn't have the heart to keep a woman locked up in a cell for long…"

 "Though he _did_ have the heart to lock you up in a cell." Jack pointed out. "Not a very promising thought, is it?"  

 "And his brother." Kris added rather sulkily. "I'm pretty sure we're dealing with a heartless man here, Delia."

 "Not heartless enough to turn away a pirate's hostage when she comes to him for help." Delia said, shoving another bundle through the bars for the two prisoners. "There's some clothes for Kris in there, and more food and some water too… Now, this time try and make everything span out for more than a day, I don't know how often I can get down here." 

 "Thanks." Kris said, immediately grabbing the bundle. "Honestly, we really appreciate this…"

 "Wait a second." Jack, who had been idly sitting leaning against the wall, spoke up. "What pirate's hostage?"

 "Just some girl we found in a rowboat a couple of days ago." Delia replied, hurriedly looking around. "Look, I haven't got time for this. I have to go." And before either of them could ask any more questions, she had disappeared up the stairs. 

 The rest of the day was, for the most part, uneventful. Kris had hastily changed into the dress Delia had lent her (with the occasional "I swear to god Jack if you don't turn around I'll gouge your eyes out" ringing throughout the bilge until she had successfully wedged herself into it), the light blue fabric suiting her perfectly and succeeding in creating the illusion that her eyes were the same color. That was the thing about her eyes; although they were grey, they could be changed slightly to light blues or even greens, depending on what she wore, and sometimes even her mood (which changed more often than her clothes). For the first while she had been almost afraid to sit down and dirty it, but this notion was quickly abandoned when she'd become so tired she was forced to rest. She'd quickly fallen asleep, her head peacefully resting against Jack's shoulder.

~*~*~

You can so tell I cut this chapter short…. Lol… anyways, for the credit thinger. The whole fish talk bit (as in when Kris says 'enough with the fish talk!') is from Corner Gas, the best show in the world. Pretty much what happens is this girl goes on a fishing trip with Hank, just as friends, and he goes into all this 'deep' talk about fish and fishing and the water and she totally finds it irresistible but she really doesn't like him at all and then they end up kissing and……….. Long story short, it was hilarious. I laughed my head off (though I always do, corner gas is the best show in the world. They so portray good ol' Saskatchewan well) So…. Yeah. And I wrote that part right after I finished watching it, so that's probably why I felt the need to put it in. I'm sure you all won't find it as funny as I do… I think I'm one of the only people who watches Corner Gas instead of Friends (they're on at the same time for people who don't have digital or whatever) So….. yeah. Enjoy and please REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	13. Water

**Author's Note**: Warning, tis another CLIFFHANGER!!!  Bwahahahaha…. And yes, this time the chapter really IS a short one! I wrote this all yesterday when I was home sick with the flu, and I didn't really pay any attention to it until today when I read it (I had forgotten I'd even written another chapter, my flu drugs were making me kinda drowsy) I decided not to change anything. But why didn't I add more, you ask? Because I'm evil and I happen to like cliff hangers. They add suspense. Plus I'm lazy, and Wil seems to have taken the day off. So, meh. ENJOY!!

**Jeyke**: Never heard of corner gas? Gasp! I'm not really all that surprised, as I mentioned most people haven't. It's really quite a shame, cus it ROCKS! You really thought the whole fish thing was funny? Woo! That's so awesome… Brilliant? *blush* Thanks so much…. I'll have another chapter pretty soon after this one… Hopefully… Thanks for the review!

~Kris

**Chapter 13**

Water. Water everywhere; grey and churning, frothy white caps appearing amid the chaotic waves. Depthless, colorless, ageless. Pounding against the ship's hull, splashing up onto the deck. Droplets every once and a while hitting Mia's face, cold droplets that felt like ice. It didn't matter; it was only water. Water that surrounded everything, water that could pull you down to its depths with one small wave, water that could send a ship crashing against the shore like a piece of driftwood, send it splintered into a thousand tiny pieces, never to be seen again. Water that could swallow you up like a great empty oblivion and it still wouldn't matter. It was only water.

 The wind was cold, blowing the small droplets of ocean water across Mia's face, freezing her features into the cold expressionless mask she wore. Surely too cold for the Caribbean. But now that she thought about it, she had no clue as to whether they were still in the Caribbean or not. She didn't know where they were going, nor did she care. The wind blew her messy auburn hair aimlessly, fanning it out behind her like the great slithering snakes Medusa adorned. It still didn't matter. The sun was hidden by the masses of clouds, nothing more than a faint light amid the endless grey. None of it mattered. Not the wind, not the weather, not the clouds. And definitely not the water.

 Her small hands gripped the rail so tightly her knuckles showed white, but she didn't notice. Her eyes stayed locked on the scene before her, the waves as the bow of the ship cut through them, as if there was an actual destination for them, as if this journey held some amount of meaning. The worn figurehead jutted out from the bow, the wood from the mermaid's hands and tail slowly showing signs of rotting away. The face had once been beautiful, before the sea had took its toll on it. She considered climbing down onto it, resting her head against the mermaid's flowing wooden hair as the ocean sprayed her with the endless water, as the wind blew at her so violently that there seemed no possible way she could tear away from the figurehead and fall into the ocean's depths. Maybe it'd be peaceful down there. But then again, death was supposedly peaceful too.

 "Mia?" she hadn't heard the footsteps slowly approaching her, she barely felt the hand on her shoulder. A large, rough hand; a blacksmith's hand. She didn't need to turn around to know the expression on Will's face, the tone in his voice said it all. But sympathy wouldn't be able to help her. If anything, she felt worse knowing he felt sorry for her.

 "Are you alright?" Yet again, Will's voice was full of sympathy, worry ebbing its way into his words. Mia couldn't seem to stop herself from turning around and peering over her shoulder, to study him as he stood there, awkward as if he didn't have the slightest clue as to what to do or say. His large brown eyes were full of sympathy, tint flecks of light reflected amongst the colors, a tiny ring of black tracing around his irises. She didn't reply, only continued to study him, a voice way in the back of her head trying to fathom why he even cared. And really, why did he? He owed her nothing; he really shouldn't even have anything to do with her. But then why did he seem to insist on it?

 "You've been crying, haven't you?" Will said finally. Mia reached up and lightly touched her hand to her cheek. He was right, warm moisture coated her skin. She hadn't even realised it. 

 "I… I didn't know." Was all Mia managed to say.

 Will came and leaned against the rail beside her, looking out at the water passively. Mia had no doubt that he didn't see the horror of it, the misery reflected in the waves. All he saw was the ocean, the pathway their ship was taking, a mere tool for them to use. 

 "Isn't it amazing?" He said, his eyes still thoughtfully looking out before them.

 "What?" Mia replied, straining to see what he was looking at. She saw nothing.

 "The water." He motioned out before them, a quick flick of the hand that Mia found strangely familiar. It took her a moment to realise that it was Jack who had always gestured like that. 

 "I don't think it's all that great." Mia replied, her voice becoming slightly hoarse. 

 "Not just the water, but…" Will trailed off, searching for words. "The horizon. It's all you can see, just how the ocean stretches on for eternity… It gives you the sense that anything can happen, doesn't it?"

 Mia gave a slight grunt of acknowledgment. "Anything like death and destruction." She replied. 

 "I wouldn't say so." Will said. "We've turned around."

 "What do you mean?" Mia asked, tearing her eyes away from the water and looking straight at him. 

 "We've turned around." Will repeated. "We're headed back in the direction we came, its closer to where the crew voted on going." 

 "So you mean…." Mia replied, trying desperately to hide the hope that had crept its way into her voice. Her stomach gave an excited little lurch, her eyes widening with excitement. _No, don't get excited, it's not true… it can't be true… _

 Will faced her, still leaning on the rail, smiling. _Smiling._ He wouldn't be smiling unless….

 "We're going back. We're going to find them." 

 ***

  The cell was filled with the heavy semi-darkness of dusk. Night was falling quicker than Jack had expected. It slightly annoyed him to know that being locked away for so long had taken away his sense of time. For god's sake, he knew whether it was noon or dusk on a desert island, but he had no clue what was going on in a leaky old cell. Classic. 

 Kris shifted slightly in her sleep, reminding Jack that he wasn't alone in this hell-hole. He peered down at her, admiring how peaceful she looked as she slept, how her hair fell around her shoulders and framed her face, how long and dark her eyelashes appeared in the fading light. She seemed almost fragile, her lips parted slightly and delicately, her tanned skin almost seeming to glow amid the grey. He didn't understand why women were constantly powdering up their faces to look paler; personally he had seen nothing more beautiful than a tanned face. But then again, he wouldn't have minded Kris if she was pale, either.

 He dully noticed that their cell was totally dark now, so dark in fact that it was barely possible to see your hand in front of your face. But when Jeremy came down the steps, his footsteps clunking down the stairs, the dim light from his candle was vaguely welcomed by Jack.  

 At first, he and Jack had merely glared at one another, neither uttering a single word. Jeremy was contented to let his brother knew he hated him without making any actual effort of saying it, and Jack simply because he didn't want to wake Kris. 

 "It doesn't look like you're having all that hard a time in there." Jeremy said finally, motioning towards Kris who was still sleeping beside, or more so _on_, Jack. She slept so peacefully, you'd think one wouldn't have the heart to wake her up…

 "Oh yes, it's just a bloody bundle of fun being locked in this bloody brig." Jack replied, and was about to say more, but Kris moving slightly in her sleep stopped him. 

 "Do I detect a hint of bitterness?" Jeremy replied, in an almost boyish tone. One would have thought they were merely two brothers taunting one another, except for the invisible electricity flowing between them, the energy that seemed to arise every time their eyes locked. Obviously, they couldn't stand one another. 

 "I wonder." Jack replied, this time loudly enough to jar Kris from whatever dreams she had been having. She sat up, her eyes slightly squinted as she looked around tiredly, and she was almost about to say something when she noticed Jeremy. Immediately the tired look left her, and she took on the normal alertness of any well seasoned pirate. She narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to say something-

 It all happened so fast, the transition from peacefulness to chaos. No sooner had Kris opened her mouth when a gunshot rang out, shattering the mask of silence that had been coating the room. Jeremy screamed out in pain, Jack had 'protectively' pushed Kris to the ground and sprung up, and a loud coughing sounded from the darkness. Once the slight haze of gunpowder had settled, they could see Jeremy slumped against the ground, clutching his rapidly bleeding leg as he groaned in pain. 

 "What the hell…" Kris whispered, furrowing her brow as she stood up. But all of her questions were answered when Katrina stepped out of the darkness, a smoking pistol in her hand.


	14. the escape dundundun

 **Author's note: ** This. Chapter. Took. Forever!!!!! I'm really sorry about that, but my parents put into action this new rule that I can't type on the computer when my parents are watching tv, because the computer's in the living room and the keyboard's really loud, which turned out to give me exactly zero typing time. Also, we had a virus and fanfiction and fiction press and a few other things wouldn't work properly on my computer, so now I have a ton or reading to catch up on! So sorry for not reading your fanfic for so long Jeyke, and sorry for not reviewing for even longer because I couldn't type!! GAAAAAAAH!!! I HATE THIS RULE!!!!!

 Eventually I'll get over it.

 So, anyways, this chapter was meant to be solely Kris and Jack's escape, but then I started on other things and couldn't stop, but then the chapter was like a mile long, so I cut it off at what I though was an appropriate place, and have got to touch up the next chapter so I can post it too. So, here's another cliffhanger, one that won't make much sense until the next chapter gets posted, so I'm really sorry but that's the way it's gotta be.

 On a personal note, I also spent the week at my sister's house, which ment I couldn't type for a week, even if my parents weren't watching tv, nor read anyfanfics, nor reply to them. But she did give me this awesome gumball machine shaped fish tank they had, so now alls I got to do is clean it out and I get more fish! Yay! I loves my fish! I already have names for the new ones, Lestat, Marius, and Louis. I'm sure you all really wanted to hear that, but as it's like midnight here and I'm super tired, and when I get tired I tend to get hyper and weird, well, that should explain a lot of it. My parents are out, so I just wrote this whole chapter in one sitting.

 Roz: Hey roz! Hope ya had fun on your trip! No worries about talking in third person, I do that a lot too. That's so awesome you like corner gas… no one else I know does… yep, that's my fave episode!! (and because of that my official new elfwood name is Kris the Fish Whisperer). Aww, it's cute isn't it, but no dirty thoughts!!! personally rescues Roz's mind before it falls into a gutter ahem sorry… I'm very very very tired. Yup, Mia's gotted herself a nice little crush, of course on the guy every teenager has one on, Orlando Bloom. Well, almost every teenager. Well, cya!!!

Jeyke: Thanks!!! Maybe I should get sick more often… I can never find time to type nowadays! Corner gas is a purely Canadian show, so you probably won't hear of it anytime soon……………… it only plays once a week anyways sniff. Tis a shame because the show's PURE GENIUS!! Well next on my agenda is to read your new chapters, and review them, which hopefully I'll get a chance to do, and if not my parents will just have to suck it up and listen to me type for a while! Well thanks for the review!!!

  Christi's really tied now. Me go to bed.

Chapter 14

All things considered, Katrina was surprisingly calm as she stood over Jeremy, still clutching the pistol in her hand. Normally, when you've just shot someone, something along the lines of an emotional breakdown or at least mild surprise follows shortly afterwards. But not a trace of surprise or remorse darkened Katrina's determined expression. She looked strangely out of place, an innocent looking young woman, dressed in what was more or less the fashion of the time with her long dark braided hair hanging down her back, standing in the middle of a dark bilge before a wounded man, brandishing a firearm that was still emitting a slight residue of gunpowder.

 Kris finally got over the initial shock of seeing Katrina pounce from the shadows and shoot Jeremy, but was still understandably more or less surprised at seeing her.

"Katrina?" She said in disbelief.

 Katrina, as if snapped out of some kind of trance, turned around and smiled. "The one and only." She said, before lifting the pistol to her lips and blowing the gunpowder from its rim, grinning. "Miss me?"

 "Yes!" Kris exclaimed. "Now get us out!"

 Jack gave what he thought was a friendly grin and leaned closer to Kris as Katrina fumbled with a ring of keys she had apparently brought with her, trying each one in the lock hurriedly. "Kristalle? Who's she?" he whispered, eyeing Katrina curiously.

 "The name's Katrina." She replied cheerily before Kris could answer, smiling as she found the right key and swung open the cell door. "I'll be your saviour today. Now if you follow me, we'll probably be able to get past the guards before the whole ship wakes up."  

 The three immediately began to hurry up the stairs, as quietly as they could. Katrina, being the only one with a weapon, took the lead, Jack followed after her and Kris took up the rear, obviously tense and ready for a fight. In all truth, her fists were probably the most effective weapon she could ever come in contact with, all thanks to her uncle's rather fanatical teachings.

 Katrina slowed down the procession as they approached the corner at the end of the agonizingly long hallway leading out of the bilge (who knew ships even had enough room for something as long as this?), timidly peering around the corner to make sure the coast was clear. It was. Thoughts reeling, Katrina's eyes scanned once more what was visible from their hiding spot of the ship, although she had practically imprinted every nook and cranny of the _Ebony Rose_ into her mind during her brief stay. It had been one of the best ideas she'd had in a long time, sneaking off the Pearl during the battle and pretending to have been held captive by the pirates. She'd quickly found out that Captain Smith was quick to believe almost anything a woman told him, especially a pretty one.

 "Alright, here's the plan." She whispered to Kris and Jack, her violet eyes glinting as she turned towards them. "See the stern of the ship? It's right across from us, should be only about 10 feet, twelve at the most. Trailing behind it is a spare rower, attached to the boat by a twine cord, about five feet or so out in the water. If we can jump far enough, we can reach the boat and stay in it until the rest of the ship settles down-" she paused for effect, letting her two comrades listen to the now rapidly growing sounds of disorder stirring within the ship, "-then we can easily cut the cord and be off on our merry way. Understand?"

 "It's insane." Kris said, grinning slightly. "I like it."

 "Alright, now come on!" Katrina whispered, before silently taking off quickly, Jack and Kris trailing closely behind. The once discreet sounds coming from below decks were now growing alarmingly loud, and each of the pirates felt a considerable amount of relief when they reached the rail separating the ship's decks from the mass of churning black water below. Before anyone could do anything, Katrina wordlessly slung her leg over the rail and dropped out of sight. Panicked, the two remaining pirates practically threw themselves over the rail to see where she had gone, before realising that Katrina was now crouched on a small ledge a couple feet beneath them, frantically beckoning for them to join her.

 "She left out that bit." Jack mentioned quietly, but Kris had already disappeared over the rail, the only remaining proof that she had moments ago been standing beside him the long sheet of auburn hair descending over the rail after her. Jack was momentarily surprised at the agility of these two women, before realising that, A) they were both considerably smaller and lighter than most men, that and the fact that voices could now be heard yelling as they undoubtedly found Jeremy in the now empty bilge pointing towards obvious quickness, and B) if he didn't hurry soon, he'd end up locked in said bilge for the third time around. So, without any further hesitation, he silently dropped over the edge of the rail and landed awkwardly on the small ledge beneath.

 Naturally, the wind was considerably worse down there, and Jack was understandably grateful that Katrina's hair was neatly tied up in a long braid, as he was currently getting a face-full of Kris's thick mane. The small rowboat was bobbing on the fierce waves like a cork, drifting closer then farther away from the ship with each wave. They silently watched the boat for a few moments, eventually concluding that when the boat was closest to them, it was more or less directly beneath the very ledge they stood on.

 "We'll go in turns." Katrina said, the wind rendering her voice barely audible. They could now hear voices on deck, some so clear that they could have been looking over the rail directly above them. Speaking considerably louder as she clung to the edge of the ship, she added, "Any takers?"

 Taking a deep breath, Kris nodded. "I'll go. Wish me luck." She gave Jack's hand a slight squeeze, before narrowing her eyes slightly and hurling herself towards the small rower.

 For a moment she simply sailed through the air, her hair rippling behind her, before she landed gracefully in the rower, swiftly causing the customary cover over the top (something they hadn't quite taken into consideration in their haste) to collapse beneath her, of course not ripping the material due to her petite frame and seemingly expertise landing. She quickly cleared the fabric away over to one end of the boat and gave an affirming wave up to the other two.

 Jack went next, landing in the rower beside Kris with a considerably lesser amount of grace, causing the boat to tip and nearly capsize. Taking no haste, Katrina went straight after him, landing silently with a cat-like poise. She took no time to collect herself as she reached over and grabbed the cover, motioning for the others to get down as she re-covered the boat, pirates and all.

 After a few moments of silence, only broken by the three's heavy breathing, Kris let out a slight, excited laugh, her eyes fully showing the amount of adrenaline that still pumped through her veins.

 "That was…" Kris said, trailing off momentarily. "Well, no offence to you lass, but I'd never thought something like that would have come from you."

 Katrina smiled rather proudly as she managed to find a comfortable spot on her elbows as she lay on the damp wood of the boat's interior. Silently, Jack had to agree with Kris. Katrina, being very pretty and maintaining a relatively proper appearance, would have been one of the last people he would have expected to organise a jail break. He was about to mention that too, had Katrina not laughed slightly and shook her head, before looking mischievously, and slightly disbelieving, up at Kris.

 "May I enquire, Captain Kayte, as to whether or not your given name is Kristalle McWilliams?" she asked, quickly and slyly so she gave off the effect of someone who either knew exactly what she was saying and was merely toying by asking questions, or someone who was flinging off wild guesses and wanted everyone else to believe she was sure of what she was saying.

  Kris's face went white with shock as she huddled next to jack, leaning on her forearms. "Ex-excuse me?"

 "Is your true name Kristalle McWilliams?" Katrina repeated, a slight trace of doubt flicking across her face.

 Jack, now fully interested in the conversation, stared at Katrina for a moment before returning his gaze to Kris, who now not only looked slightly sickly but had her mouth handing open so widely one almost felt the urge to reach out and shut it.

 "How did you know that?" Kris replied quietly, racking her mind for any mentioning of her given name she could have given Katrina. As far as she knew, the only two living people on the earth who knew of her full given name were her uncle and Jack, and from what she could remember, she hadn't even let on to Katrina that her real name was Kristalle, which was pretty much common knowledge, all things considered. She'd long ago dropped her father's name, McWilliams, for various reasons including the fact that she hated her father with all her being and wanted nothing to do with him, and had taken up her mother's maiden name, Kayte. She'd been known as Kris Kayte for so long that the knowledge that she'd given up both morally and legally her father's last name had all but slipped her mind.

 "It really _is_ you!"  Katrina exclaimed delightedly, banging her hand slightly against the wood of the boat's bottom before reaching over and hugging Kris, the latter who seemed both confused and wary.

 "Oh, Krissy, I haven't seen you for _ages_!!!" Katrina squealed again, this time right in Kris's ear, causing both Kris and the now beyond confused Jack to jump.

 "Uh, yes, it is me…" Kris replied warily, struggling out of Katrina's tight grasp.

 "You really don't remember me?" Katrina said, letting go of Kris and peering at her. "Katrina DuValle? Krissy, it's _me_, Kit!"


	15. You're MARRIED!

Author's note: I finally updated! Yay! You'd think that now that the summer's here and I have more free time, I'd be able to write more, but lately I just can't seem to drag my butt over to the computer. I had to split this chapter, like the last one, but this time I'm posting both today so it's all good!

Jeyke: Nah, I'd never abandon my story… tis my baby… these next chapters SHOULD explain Kit a bit more! I wish our school had baseball, we only had slowpitch and it was horrible… long live Captain Sparrow, I agree!

Roz: lol yes, no more cliffhangers! Sorry about the torture, although I'm glad you liked the chapter! Yeah, Katrina and Kris now know eachother, a bit of a spur of the moment thing but oh well!  Actually, I haven't seen corner gas for a really long time now… weird… well thanks for the review!

kllr whal: I'm planning on finishing, but I tend to take forever… thanks for the review!!!

Kris's jaw yet again dropped, but this time more out of amazement than anything. Jack had barely murmured a "Who?" when Kris gave out an excited shriek, causing Jack to yet again jump and wonder why the hell God had given women such a high vocal range.

 "Kit!!" she exclaimed, reaching out and hugging Katrina again.

 What followed was a long string of loud, high pitched, excited talk from both women, all of which Jack gave up on interpreting and merely tried to block out, whilst still trying desperately to comprehend what was going on. After a few moments of agony on his behalf, Jack rather timidly reached out and tapped Kris's shoulder. She gave a slight jump, as if in all her uncharacteristic excitement had forgotten that Jack was even there, and turned to face him, smiling insanely.

 "Jack!" she exclaimed, looking so joyful that it suddenly became quite hard to believe that moments before he had been annoyed with her. "It's _Kit_!!!"

 "I gathered." Jack replied, trying not to let on that her excitement was starting to rub off on him, for whatever strange reason.

 "We grew up together." Katrina, or now, supposedly Kit, explained happily. "We used to be so close, but then she left for whatever reason, I can't remember now, except that it was horribly traumatic, and we hadn't seen each other since. We were, what, eight?"

 "Nine, I think." Kris replied, still smiling. Jack took all this in carefully as the two women described in turn what had happened, before realising that Kris's hand had now slunk around the arm he was leaning on as she and Katrina once again took up talking non-stop, relieving more or less what had happened directly after Kris had left.

 "Well, your father left, and some military stiff bought your house, and then _we _moved, to New Orleans, and, well, that's about it." Katrina finished after a while, her voice now toned down to normal. "What exactly happened to you, anyway?"

 Kris shrugged and smiled. "Well, this." She motioned to herself, as if it was apparent what had become of her, and really, in a sense it was. "I took up piracy."

 "Yes, but why?" Katrina pushed. "Not to be rude or anything of the sort." She added, shooting a slightly apologetic look in Jack's direction.

 "My uncle." Kris stated simply. "He gave it up to take care of me properly after me mum died, but that didn't stop him from teaching me everything he knew."

 "I see."  Said Katrina, nodding. "And everything else you told me, about Jack and your past adventures and well, everything, it's all true?"

  "More or less." Kris replied, grinning slightly guiltily.

  "And you?" Jack said finally, speaking up after being silent through the main part of their conversation. "Where'd you come from?"

 Kris nodded. "Yeah, what did happen to you, anyway? What are the reasons for your suddenly becoming a musician and working at birthday parties?"

 Katrina gave a slight laugh, before retreating to thinking quietly for a moment. "Well, it's a long story. But God knows we've got the time… It all started with my betrothal to a Colonel Luke Carpenter…"

  Will woke up slowly, sluggishly almost, as thoughts of what the gruelling day ahead of him held. Or, as I should say, the _work _that the day ahead of him held. His usual new-found optimism never seemed to work in the mornings, not even when he thought of this spacious room that Kris had provided him with, or how happy Mia would be when they found Kris, or even the fact that they were closer to finding her and Jack. He was generally more miserable than a water-logged cat upon waking.

 He gave a strange cross between a yawn and a groan and turned over in his wooden cot -slightly larger than the rest on the ship- and gave a start as his arm draped across some warm, soft lump in the bed beside him. His eyes shot open as he saw a face barely inches from his own grinning up at him with a mischievous air that sent to further confuse poor Will until his eyes properly focused.

 Her long golden hair sparkled in the morning sunlight, and her amazing eyes glinted happily as she saw him recognise her. The sheer perfection of her features, her flawless skin, the delicious shape of her lips, the way her hair perfectly framed her face, _everything_, well, let's say he knew he had to be dreaming…

 Except for when she giggled. Then he knew he wasn't dreaming. Excitement slowly flooded through him as he realised she really was here, right here on the ship, right in front of him.

 His beloved wife had returned.

 "E-Elizabeth?" he stuttered, still not quite sure of himself. He reached out and stroked her face to further prove her presence, causing her to laugh even more.

 "Good morning." She said, her voice surprisingly clear considering the fact that it was literally the crack of dawn.

 "But… but how?" Will asked, the confused look on his face sending her into a seemingly permanent fit of giggles.

 "A boat, of course!" she exclaimed, managing to suppress her giddy laughter to kiss him, long and hard. "I've missed you." She whispered.

 Will was just about to answer her when a loud knock sounded from his door, followed by a deafening yell.

 "TURNER!!!!!!"  Mia's voice rang through the thick door, as she knocked some more. "WILL, WAKE UUUUUUUUP!!! THERE'S PEOPLE HERE!!"

 "I know." Will said passively, still not quite able to take his eyes off of Elizabeth.

 Nearly an hour later, Will had managed to dress and stumble out on deck, Elizabeth following shortly behind. The decks of the Black Pearl were a bustling mass of people, most of them of course members of their own crew, but there were a few unfamiliar faces, including that of a tall, dark haired woman dressed in a maid's attire.

 "What's going on?" he asked, his brow furrowed slightly. No sooner had these words passed his lips that Mia came bounding over.

 "Will! You can't just bloody sleep all day we have things to and there's people here and I'll be willing to bet that you didn't even notice and…." Mia's rants trailed off as she noticed Elizabeth, fully dressed in some fancy cream-colored gown, standing beside Will with her hand on his shoulder.

 "Good morning to you too, Amelia." Will replied, before turning to Elizabeth. "This is Elizabeth."

 "Hello." Mia said, slightly tentatively.

 "She's my wife." Will continued, slightly apprehensive of the confused look on Mia's face, which quickly turned to one of shock. Mia could feel heat rise to her face as her jaw dropped slightly, before she managed to stammer something rather incoherent, which was meant to sound like a 'well, that's nice' but came out as "You have a wife?!"

 And, to Mia's further embarrassment, when both Will and Elizabeth politely asked her to please repeat herself, she yet again exclaimed the uncouth "You have a _wife_?!" before she could stop herself. Her face became more and more heated until she was sure her face resembled a tomato, a deathly curse that most redheads faced. There was no doubt, in her mind, that this moment would forever be beheld as 'the day Mia revealed that she was a total and utter idiot'. But, to her relief, she did not seem to be the only one who was confused. Elizabeth sent a slightly confused glance over to Will, who was still standing on spot, the fact that he was in deep trouble beginning to dawn on him.

 "Yes, dear William here has a wife." Elizabeth said kindly to Mia, before turning back to Will. "What reasons would there be that he wouldn't wish for others to know about it?"

 "Honestly, Will, you never told me!" Mia continued in amazement. "Why not?"

 "She does have a point there." Elizabeth said, her hands on her hips as she stately cast a disapproving glance up at Will. "Why not?"

 Will, still looking aghast and not quite knowing what to do, opened his mouth and let out a slightly audible sound before Mia cut him off.

 "Will, what is wrong with you?!"

"I would have thought that, after I came all the way over seas, backtracking on Norrington's petty words that you would indeed be on this ship, I would have at _least_ been able to rest assured that you had a simple intention of coming back!" Elizabeth said, her calm tone becoming slightly more heated. "I am your _wife_, William, and-"

 "Honestly, I would have told you if I were married!" Mia exclaimed. "Bill would have told you if he were married! Brett would have-"

 "We took vows to be faithful will, and I would have thought that being faithful included letting others know about your spouse-"

 "I'm bloody well sure that if Jack and Kris got married, they'd tell you! I mean, wouldn't you-"

 "I was planning on it!" Will exclaimed finally, causing both of the ill-tempered women to shut their mouths.

 "You were _planning _on telling everyone you were married?" Elizabeth said, raising an eyebrow.

 "I was _planning_ on telling _Mia_ we were married." Will said. "Most everyone else already knew. It's been rather hectichere, with trying to find the ships captain and all, who's still missing, and-"

 "Jack's gone?" Elizabeth interrupted. "What happened?"

 Will patiently explained all the happenings of the past few days to his wife as Mia listened on, making sure he didn't leave anything out. After a while, satisfied with each other's explanations and yet again basking in the other's presence, the two lovers retreated off to god knows where, leaving Mia standing in place.

 Mia would have been upset about being left alone, had there been one extremely important question left unanswered. She stopped the unfamiliar maid in her tracks as she scurried about.

 "Um, excuse me?" Mia said. The maid smiled widely.

 "Yes dear?"

 "How'd you get here?"

 The maid smiled again, her dark hair glinting in the bright sunlight. For some reason, although Mia couldn't exactly state what, she took an immediate liking to this woman. "Oh, I was sure someone was going to ask! Elizabeth, that woman you were just talking to, she got a letter from Port Royal explaining that Will was missing, and that the Black Pearl was spotted a few days before off the shore of Port Royal. She was on the way to England to visit relatives, but she was absolutely sick with worry about Will, so she had her father turn back the ship, and then, amazingly, we found you! Her father, believing what everyone told him about this ship having been reclaimed by honest merchants, simply dropped her and her maids off and headed back home. Isn't it exciting!" The woman looked around, her green eyes wide. "A real pirate ship!"

 "Uh, yeah." Mia replied, still slowly taking in what she had just been told. "Thank you, miss, uh…"

 "You can call me Eponine." The maid said cheerfully. "And no problem!"

 Mia said a rather distracted farewell and walked away, heading towards the bow of the ship. Without having any distractions, hurt slowly began to fill her. Will was married. She didn't know why it seemed so surprising, after all, he was a grown man, and a good looking one at that… very good looking… She had just been idiotic to let herself believe anything else…

 When a passing Brett had worriedly asked her why she was crying, she simply blamed her tears on worry for Kris. After all, she had made enough of an idiot out of herself for one day.


	16. Katrina's story

Author's note: well, this is katrina's story, and no it's not based off of Roz or anything (at least, I hope you'd tell me if you were betrothed!) lol well here it is!

Kris

While the black pearl was busy with the excitement Elizabeth had caused, Katrina was busy telling her story.

 "He was a horrible man, Luke." She said thoughtfully, fidgeting slightly with the sleeve of her dress. "I knew that as soon as I met him. He didn't have an ounce of respect for anyone; he always expected everyone to do everything for him. I suppose it was this mentality that got him the respected position of colonel at such a young age.

 "I was around 13 when I met him. All my family; my parents, my brothers, my sister, they all had spoke so highly of him that I had found myself drawn to him before I even met him. He had achieved so much in his life that he seemed a god of sorts, especially in the humble place of New Orleans. Thus, my parents were overjoyed to have received the honour of dining with him.

 "My excitement had reached its peak when we arrived at his manor, which seemed more like a castle to me at such a young age. The whole place was swarming with servants, although at the time I thought nothing of it, I suppose it _was_ a little unusual for an army man to be in possession of such a place. I remember being lead inside by a handsome black man; also I remember realising that the servants must have been trained not to speak to anyone, as not one person would answer to any of my greetings or questions. I would have thought that my parents would think this highly unusual, as we've always treated our servants with respect and kindness. But, as mentioned before, I think my parents were too infatuated with the man to think anything bad of him.

 "We were lead to a fantastic dining hall, complete with crystal chandeliers and golden furnishings. For a moment, I was too preoccupied by my glorious surroundings to notice the man sitting at the gigantic oak table.

 "When it did occur to me that we were not alone in the hall, I found myself slightly taken aback by his grandeur. He stood up and introduced himself as Luke Carpenter, not colonel or commander but simply Luke, a towering man of six foot five with piercing green eyes and a deviously charming grin. He looked to be partly Spanish, with beautifully tanned skin, his beard clipped so close and smoothly that it seemed to be painted on, and paired with a mere line of a moustache and hair that curled naturally around his ears, he struck me as a man who appeared to be charming, likeable and handsome. But there was just something about him that unnerved me; perhaps it was his eyes, that to me seemed cold and barren despite the wide smile adorning his face. He shook both of my brother's hands, first Jacques then Armand, not to mention my father's, and after politely kissing the hands of my mother and sister Jezebel, he surprised me by kissing my own.

 "The dinner itself was unmemorable, with servants bringing dish after dish and boring official talk between the men of my family and Luke. My mother and sister laughed a little too loudly at every witty comment to grace Luke's lips; for the most part of the meal I stayed silent. My sister showered the man with compliments and praise, while I barely looked at him. With each passing moment I found my excitement fading, and my dislike for Luke slowly started to grow. Every once and a while he would look away from my family and stare at me out of the corner of his eye; I would ignore it and continue picking at my food, replying politely to all his questions with an appropriate 'yes', 'of course' or 'thank you'. I was relieved beyond words when it was finally time to leave.

 "But my relief at finally leaving the house did not seem to phase Luke, as right when my family was preparing to leave, he caught me alone and brought my hand to his mouth once again. 'My dearest Katrina', I remember him saying. Those words filled me with a dread that didn't leave me for days, and for once the use of my real name hadn't annoyed me but, in fact, frightened me. My family noticed nothing.

 "Barely a month later, my family was yet again invited to dine with Mr Carpenter. These occasions became more or less a regular thing until my parents decided to send me off to a French finishing school. It was there that I learnt my true passion; to play the violin. But I was there for little more than a year when my mother sent for me to come back home, claiming that she couldn't bear to have 'her baby' so far away from her. So, obediently, when one of my fathers' many ships appeared to take me back, I went without a fuss.

 "My family was overjoyed to see me, claiming that I had changed so much since the year before. I was constantly being showered with unwanted comments about my beauty, how my dark hair contrasted against my fair skin, how well I had filled out, how unusual my eyes were. I had noticed that the closeness I had shared with my older brothers had begun to fade, as Jacques was spending more and more time away from home and my beloved Armand, who held barely 3 years or age above me, generally acted with discomfort around me. The only thing that hadn't changed was my sister Jezebel, nearly five years older than me and multitudes more beautiful, whom had always treated me with kindness. If anything, she seemed to pay more attention to me, marvelling at how I'd grown and my manners, and especially my fluent French. So, although I had lost a companion in Armand, I had gained one in my sister. For the next month or so I lived happily, surrounded with familiarity and loved ones. I had, for the most part, forgotten about Luke.

 "Until, that is, he invited us to dine with him once again. Except this time, instead of inviting the family as was usual, only Jacques and myself were expected to attend.

 "This created a small uproar throughout the household. It was apparent that Jacques had been invited due to the fact that Luke wished to discuss some matter of business with him, and my parents and Armand were rather passive about the whole affair, but Jezebel had a rather hard time containing her surprise that I had been invited and not her. Everyone had thought that, if Luke had any intention of courting a member of the DuValle family, it would have been her. All things considered, I was different one of the family, and always had been; my brothers and sister were all fair and blonde, with deep brown eyes and wonderful social skills. I had inherited my father's dark hair, and while I sported my mother's fair skin, it was unapparent as to where my eye color came from. All my life I was treated like the baby of the family, and although I was fourteen years old, I was still the one who would stay home for the majority of social events, I was still the one who dressed in either plain gowns or cast-offs of Jezebel's, I was still the one who had plenty of time to worry about marriage. So, why had Luke asked for my attendance instead of the beautiful gem that was my sister?  

 "It was Armand who had explained all this to me. Not the part of my being the baby or different, but the fact that I was expected to attend the dinner with no one but Jacques to go with me, and ultimately what it meant.

 " 'Kit, you do realise that you've grown significantly since you last saw the man, don't you?" he had asked, when I failed to understand what he was saying. 'Luke has obviously taken an interest in you, little sister, and you know what that means.' And of course, I did. While my parents acted like nothing was out of the ordinary, they did arrange for a brand new gown to be bought for the occasion, and had me prepared and dressed like an animal ready to be sold. My dress was to be velvet and match my eyes, I was to wear emeralds instead of plain pearls, my hair should be curled instead of left straight. It was maddening, especially since I personally felt no different from the year before when I just attended these dinners as myself, with a plain colored gown and jewels that may have been beautiful but held no real significance. Yet still, I don't think it had fully hit me that I may have been expected to marry this man.

 "When Jacques and I arrived in the family's carriage, instead of the usual stately servant waiting to greet us, Luke was there instead. He was exactly as I remembered him, if not more disturbing now that I knew of his intentions. His eyes glinted as he took my hand and helped me out of the carriage, although he said nothing and turned to greet my brother.

 "Instead of heading into the house as I had expected, Luke first lead us on a path around the side, explaining that he wished for us to see the grounds properly. And although the spacious gardens and orchards were indeed beautiful, they did nothing for me. As usual I replied to all of his questions with a polite yet short answer, trying my hardest not to insult yet not to compliment the man I disliked so much.

 "The dinner, like all the others, was filled with talk of business, the army, merchants, etcetera. But alongside the drawling words were also numerous compliments for myself, all of which I politely thanked him for but for the most part ignored. Luke didn't seem to notice, for Jacques and I were invited back many times after that, all of the occasions more or less the same. But, slowly, I noticed that things began to change. Luke began to send me gifts; first letters, then baskets of rare fruit and flowers, sometimes even accompanied by bottles of wine or crystal decorations. He sent me jewellery and clothing, all of which I found gaudy and repulsing but was still expected to wear, and animals including a beautiful white mare, birds, and even a family of peacocks. I was not only invited to dine with him but invited to go alone, and although his attention was focused constantly on me, he talked about himself mostly, so I didn't have to speak very often except for my uncharacteristic one-worded replies.

 "Then the fateful news came, during my sixteenth summer. Luke had asked for my hand in marriage. Of course, my family was thrilled; he was rich, he was handsome, he was important. My betrothal to him was, to simply put it, my worst nightmare. I wanted nothing to do with him, but my parents felt differently. It was them Luke had asked, not me, and therefore I had absolutely no choice in the matter.  But that didn't stop me from voicing my opinion.

 "My parents simply wouldn't listen when I complained about it. Jacques said not to be ridiculous, of course I wanted to marry him, and Jezebel would say what an ungrateful spoiled brat I was, not to be happy about having such a wonderful fiancée. The only one who understood was Armand, but even he had told me that I had no choice.

 "Every night I was expected to dine with him, and soon I was expected to spend the days with him also. I would play the violin for him every time he requested, and he would show me off to all of his horrible friends and family as if I was some trophy that he had won. I refused to let him kiss me, and the most contact that I allowed was for him to take my arm, claiming that I felt uncomfortable with affection out of wedlock, when really I was just uncomfortable with the man himself.

 "One night, when we were strolling about in his gardens, he mentioned something about children, when I blurted out those six fateful words. 'I don't want to marry you.' Immediately I had regretted my outburst. I had seen how ruthless this man could be when he was beating on his servants or commanding his troop, and I truly believed that he had no heart. I was frightened for my life.

 " 'Is this true?' he had asked. All I had the strength to do was nod. 'I'm afraid to say, miss Katrina DuValle, that you have no choice in it. You _will _marry me.'

 " 'My name is Kit!' I had exclaimed, my fear mixed with anger. 'And I may marry you, but I refuse to love you.' Once again I regretted my words. I had never seen a man look so angry as Luke grabbed my shoulders, gripping them so tightly that I felt I would scream.

 " 'How dare you speak to me like that!' He screamed, before slapping me hard on the face. The fear for my life grew stronger as he yelled at me more, all the time gripping my one shoulder with one hand and still slapping me with the other. I didn't have the strength to scream out, and besides, who would hear me? I was so sure this man would kill me, when suddenly I caught glimpse of the knife hanging from his belt. Somehow I managed to grab it and thrust it into his shoulder, before I quickly fled.

 "It was late when I reached home, and the only people who were awake were a few of the servants. I hastily got one of them to help me pack, and without even saying a goodbye, I left.

 "It didn't take long for reality to set in on me as I hurriedly shuffled towards the docks; I had stabbed my fiancée, one of the most important men in New Orleans. All I had were clothes, my violin and some money. What was I to do? Where was I to go? But it was too late to regret what I had done; I payed the sailors of a random ship to let me board, and that was it. I had left.

 "They dropped me off at some unknown port on their way, claiming that as a woman, I was bringing bad luck to their crew. Not knowing what else to do, I began playing violin for money, first on the streets and eventually in taverns. Soon I was joined by other musicians who wished to make a living; a young boy who played the flute, more violinists. Eventually we realised that we could recruit more, and an orchestra of sorts was formed. For nearly two years we played for the wealthy and important, until finally we were offered the most money we'd ever been payed to play at the Westley mansion, and I met up with you."

 By the time her story was finished, daylight had already been seeping through the cracks in the boat for a few hours. Both Kris and Jack stared for a moment in awe at her. Kris would have never imagined her childhood friend to have gone through so much, although she now realised that she was stronger than she had thought.

 "That's… amazing." Kris said finally. "Have you seen anyone since that?"

 Katrina shook her head.

 "You haven't heard from anyone either? Not even Armand?"

 Again she shook her head.

 Jack opened his mouth to say something, before a cannon's shot sounded from somewhere outside, a suspiciously familiar one. The three pirates managed to rip off the canvas just in time to see the Black Pearl sailing towards them, it's crew waving happily.


	17. Death

**Author's Note:** My. Lord. I cannot believe how long I took to update! At first I could blame it on summer vacation, and then school starting, and then the rehearsals for our play… but all three? Pathetic. I'm so sorry it took so long, and no I didn't give up on the story and I'm not planning on it, I just go through little periods devoid of any creativity whatsoever. And I'm posting this right before school's starting so I don't have time to reply to any comments, although I appretiate them very much so!

Kris

**Chapter 17**

The next week or so, to put it bluntly, was a time of absolute bliss. Apart from some minor discomforts, like Mia's ignoring Will and the usual tension that arrived between Jack and Elizabeth ("I _told _you it could never work out with us, dear"), everyone was content. Jack had his ship back, Mia had her cousin back, Will had his wife back and Kris had rediscovered a piece of her past in the form of a friend. They sailed aimlessly (although the majority of the crew would have been surprised to find that out), for once waiting for opportunity to come to them instead of seeking it. Things ran as usual with Jack at the wheel, Kris intermingling between mostly everything, Mia challenging random people to duels and the twins' usual mishaps, although it seemed that Brett had partaken in far more than usual now that Katrina was back aboard.

As for Kris, she couldn't remember being this happy in a long time. Her days were spent with friends, her nights were spent with Jack, and all the in-between time she spent with Mia. After noticing a significant change in her cousin's attitude (she still couldn't tell if it was a hint of seriousness, or maybe even maturity), she had vowed to be a better guardian for her, because although Mia could never admit it, that was exactly what Kris was.

But, of course, many things had changed, besides Mia's attitude. Elizabeth was now a permanent occupant of the ship (even surprising everyone by actually _working_), and despite her occasional complaints got along with mostly everyone, including Mia, who somehow couldn't seem to dislike her (so she compromised by simply ignoring her existence). Eponine, of course, fit into the crew like a missing glove, happily helping with everything and laughing while she did it. Will had noticed that Mia was paying far less attention to him than she had used to (but it couldn't be possible that she was ignoring him, could it?), but he just associated it with the fact that Kris and Jack were around again. But, of course, the events that had taken place on Jeremy's ship were far from forgotten.

"She was absolutely _brilliant_, wasn't she?" Kris had exclaimed whilst explaining their story yet again to an audience of Bill, Brett, Mia, Will, Elizabeth and Jacob. "If it wasn't for Kit, we'd probably be dead by now."

"I wouldn't go as far as saying that." Katrina said modestly.

"Oh really, because Kris and I were doing an absolutely wonderful job of escaping." Jack commented.

Mia sat closer to the edge of the group, on the other end of the table from where Jack, Kris and Katrina were loudly relaying their tale for the others, wedged in between Brett and Bill. She had been the first to spot the obvious 'feelings' Brett had developed over a certain female on the ship, and was currently teasing him mercilessly over it. Brett generally tried to ignore the comments, but it was always apparent that he was embarrassed due to the bright red color he turned and the knowing looks his twin would shoot his way. After all, if anyone would be able to tell a person's true feelings, it would most probably be their twin.

"So, when's the wedding?" Mia said slyly, a positively evil grin plastered across her face. Brett's face turned beet red as he rolled his eyes and took another sip of his drink. Bill took on a grin eerily similar to Mia's and patted his brother on the back.

"I do hope we get to help with the planning." He said.

"Oh, we can have cake and wine and a daisy arch!" Mia exclaimed a little too loudly, causing the others to all look up in confusion. The sight of Katrina staring at the three sent a slight pang of panic over the twins, but Jack simply took another drink.

"Daisy arch? You'd never catch me under one of those death-traps." He stated, resting his feet up on the table. "You have my word on that one."

As soon as he said this, the various other debates and conversations started up again. (Now, as you all know kids, Jack's drunken statements can often create a much needed change in the conversation.)

"Death-trap?" Kris exclaimed. "Now how the hell would daisies be a death-trap?"

"Not just daisies, love." Jack pointed out, quite truthfully really. "A daisy- _arch_. Which reminds me, you know how we got some letters the other day…"

Kris raised an eyebrow and set her drink down. "Yes?"

"Guess who got a letter!" Jack reached back and grabbed a pile of letters off the ledge behind them, picking one out of the stack and sheepishly handing it to Kris. "He-heh…Saved the best for last, you know how it goes…"

Kris shook her head and casually grabbed the letter from his outstretched hand. The stark white of the envelope contrasted shockingly with the dim light of the room, and Kris slowly turned over the letter in her hands as she listened to the conversation being held between Jack and Katrina ("Ah, but New Orleans is _French_ is it not, love? They're all eunuchs I tell you, every last one! And mayonnaise… it's because of them that the horrible stuff exists, isn't it? Oh… you say you're French… well really, they're not that bad, honest…") She turned it over passively as she listened in, shaking her head in mild disbelief.

And then she saw the black seal.

It was as if time stopped suddenly, like a small tear had been made in the fabric of the world and their little room was stuck in the middle of it, everything not quite halted but in excruciatingly slow motion. Perhaps the rest of the world stopped too, or maybe it just kept going as it always did, but Kris wouldn't have known as she stared down at the ominous black seal holding the envelope closed. She tried to make out the symbol and slowly her vision sharpened. It was as if the seal was the clearest thing in the world; Trawe. The emblem of Trawe was embedded in the black wax, and somehow she knew before she opened it…

Black wax. Black meant death.

Kris couldn't remember opening the envelope as she hastily read the letter from the city officials, but that didn't matter as her eyes hungrily searched for the important part. _This letter has been sent to you by the official chairmen of the community of Trawe… We hope this letter will reach you in your time abroad…_

The conversations around her kept on going ("yes, Jack, I _am _French, and no I don't know any eunuchs…") But to her they became an in subsequent buzz in the background, slowly becoming more and more lazy until the sound deeply resembled that of a swarm of bees. The candle on the table in front of her flickered lazily, casting shadows across the paper.

_We regret to inform you… _

Kris's chair scraped against the floor as she stood up, still clutching the letter so tightly that her knuckles began to show white, and looked around with a slightly panicked look on her face. And then she quickly and quietly staked out of the room.

"Honestly Kit, I never did say anything against Frenchwomen…" Jack said, embarrassed slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck with a bejewelled hand.

"I don't take kindly to insults towards my culture, _monsieur._" Katrina replied teasingly, giving a toss of her dark hair. "And I would love it if you could come up with even a shred of unbiased truth about the eunuch statement of yours."

"Easily!" Jack exclaimed. "Just _ask _one of the damn things!!"

"Frenchmen are not _things_, Captain…"

"Sure they are." Jack replied. "Everything's a thing when you think about it lass, isn't that right Kris?" He turned his head backwards to look at her and finally noticed that she had left just moments before. "Kris?"

"I daresay she disagrees." Katrina replied with a grin, before standing up and sauntering over to the other end of the table, as her curiosity over what all the pointing in her direction was about had gotten the best of her.

Jack ignored Katrina's comment. "Where'd she go?"

"Where'd who go?" A rather drunken Gibbs yelled from across the table, but didn't wait for an answer as he jumped right back into his conversation with Will. Jack shrugged and managed to stand up after about the third try, and although he swaggered slightly he actually managed to stay standing. He slammed his glass down on the table after a moment of thought, figuring that it will be there when he got back anyways.

He swaggered over to the door, mostly unnoticed, and stumbled out into the darkness of the night. The fresh air calmed him and he managed to compose himself, and the cool breeze seemed to bring him to his senses like a slap in the face. His eyes adjusted slowly to the dim of his surroundings, and he momentarily stood staring up at the night sky, transfixed by the stars. Everything seemed so much clearer than usual, and the galaxies and cosmos of swirling pinpricks of light seemed nearly hypnotizing. The night was nearly moonless, except for a tiny sliver. God's thumb, someone had once referred to it as. The thumbnail of god was all that lit up the sky.

The slight sound of liquid hitting liquid jarred him from his state of thought. His eyes strained as he looked around the deck, before he noticed a figure leaning over the rail of the deck nearly directly in front of him, barely even eight feet away. A shock of auburn hair was the only distinguishing feature he could see, and he quickly rushed over to Kris as she relieved her stomach over the rail.

She was sick. He rubbed her back slowly, not knowing what to do. No, she wasn't just sick… she was also crying. Sobbing.

"Kris!" He exclaimed softly, gripping her shoulders. "Are you all right?"

She stayed leaning over the rail for a moment, staring into the water, before she straightened up. She looked over her shoulder, and Jack's fears were confirmed; she was crying. Her face was a ghostly white in the dark and there were streaks of tears running down from her reddened eyes. She looked at him with a completely straight face, but her expression sent a sudden shiver through him.

"What is it?" Jack squeezed her shoulders comfortingly, but deep down he was slightly scared. He'd only seen Kris cry once (the only time taking place mere days ago), and he knew it had to be something pretty big that was upsetting her. And her expression… it wasn't as much helpless as it was cold, and at that moment her eyes seemed like the saddest, darkest voids on earth… She broke eye contact with him and seemed to shrink almost in grandeur, bringing her hands together and staring at the piece of paper before thrusting it towards him and looking back out at the ocean.

Jack didn't ask questions as he managed to catch the letter before it fluttered to the ground. He gave one last questioning look at the back of Kris's head before turning his eyes down to the paper.

_This letter has been sent to you by the officials of Trawe, written on the third of august… _He skipped the unimportant official babble and skimmed down to what seemed to be the point of the letter.

_We regret to inform you that on the first of August we found that your Uncle, Benjamin Kayte, was found deceased in his house outside of town. We are very sympathetic towards your loss and ask that you return to Traw in a time period of two weeks for the reading of his will…_

__Jack didn't need to read the rest of the letter, mostly concerning the will and Mia. He looked up to see Kris watching him silently once again, this time her eyes dry but saddened.

"My lord…" Jack was nearly speechless. He grabbed Kris arms and slowly drew her towards him, letting her head rest on his shoulder. But she didn't cry. Instead a dry, hoarse whisper escaped from her slightly parted lips.

"Benjamin… he's dead…" She closed her eyes, trying to shut the reality out. "He's dead… he's dead…"

"Kris…" Jack patted her back as he held her, but he knew it wouldn't help. Because these kind of things can't be turned back, or even consoled without time.

He was dead.


End file.
